Why have you changed?
by Nipah-chan
Summary: My first fanfiction... Luke has moved back to Misthallery leaving the Professor and Flora alone. They recieve a coded letter from Luke and go to visit, but Luke and Misthallery has changed. The Black Ravens are fighting against the mayor, but for what reason? Will the Professor and Flora be able to solve this puzzle and put all to right?
1. Chapter 1: Meeting the apprentice again

… **I really have no idea what I'm supposed to do with this… Oh well! Here's the writing, hope you like!**

It had been a few years since Professor Layton had last seen his apprentice and long serving assistant, Luke. They had had to part ways a while back when Luke had simply gotten too old to be constantly travelling and solving puzzles with the Professor. It had been the Professors idea that Luke first go back to Misthallery to continue his studies, and Luke had not much liked that proposal. But with much persuasion – especially from Luke's parents – Luke had returned to his home.

Professor Layton was rather saddened by this sudden loss of apprentice, but he was not alone just yet. He still had his adopted daughter, Flora, who definitely kept him in enough company; and he had someone new in his life. This special someone was named Katia and although her name reminded Layton of stranger times, he remained gentlemanly and refused to judge her by her name alone. They had been together for only about 2 months and the Professor – truth be told – was rather enjoying having a relationship again. Flora was not so impressed, as she, like all other girls her age, wanted a special someone of their own. But her dad strictly forbid it, saying "My dear, you're far too young to be worrying about trivial things like that!"

Katia had just spent the night at Layton's house and was going to be late for work when the doorbell rang. Professor Layton was long up and had rushed downstairs to make himself and Katia breakfast before Flora found the kitchen. He was in the middle of unsuccessfully trying to flip a pancake without sticking it to the ceiling when the doorbell rang. He mistakenly thought that Katia was still asleep and had put the pan down to get the door. He reached the door at the same time as Katia, and Flora - who had tried to get ready quickly to make it to the kitchen before the Professor did.

He looked at the two of them, as they looked at each other, and then he turned the door handle. Flora tripped as he did and landed rather awkwardly on the man standing just outside their house.

"Hey there, good seeing you again" said the man, carefully picking himself up from where Flora tripped him up.

"Parcelle? Good morning, and what are you doing here?"

"I have a parcel for you actually" Parcelle said and handed the Professor a crisp white envelope.

"Well better be off, no rest for the mail carrier and all that"

"Yes, yes of course. Thank you, Parcelle"

The Professor shut the door and headed back inside. Flora followed him, begging to be allowed to open the envelope first.

"Now, now, Flora a young lady never clamours for anything" said Katia, mimicking Layton's voice when she thought he couldn't hear.

Flora pouted and then squealed "I smell burning! Professor?" The Professor dropped the envelope on the table and rushed to the kitchen. What had once been a pancake now was a dry shrivelled lump of black charcoal.

"And it still looks better than Flora's cooking…" murmured Katia, earning her a quick jokey disapproving look from Hershel, and a completely disapproving look from Flora.

Katia left for work then with only a brief kiss on the cheek to Layton. Then he dropped Flora off at school before heading to Gressenheller University, where he was a Professor of Archaeology. He didn't even give a second thought to the letter that Parcelle had delivered, he was far too busy. In between lectures, tea and solving Dean Delmona's grandchildren's puzzles Layton rarely had any time. He used to live at the university and that gave him much more time in the day, but now with Katia and Flora it seemed more practical to buy a house. The Professor regretted this decision daily when he had just started a good book or was carefully studying an important fossil when he looked at the time and realised he had to go and pick Flora up from school.

As with most days this was how his day ended, and he left in a rush to get to Flora's school in time. On the way out the Dean caught his attention. Dean Delmona was waving his hands up and down and looked rather agitated.

"Ah professor. I thought you'd left, no matter. Here" he said as he passed a letter to Layton. "Some strange man came here and dropped it off just before"

"Thank you, Dean Delmona. Did you get his name?"

"I think… I think… Pastel? No… Parsha? It may not have even started with P…"

"Thank you anyway, good night" said Layton and he tucked the letter in his coat. The second letter in one day, he wondered if they were related. It was moments like these where Layton found himself at a loss. "I think they must be related somehow…' he thought out loud. A few of the remaining students looked warily at him as he passed them. He was talking to himself again. He wasn't used to being alone day in and day out. Truth be known, he missed Luke.

There were more than one funny looks his way when he climbed into his "car", and even more when the engine coughed and spluttered more than a few times after turning the key in the ignition. All the same the Professor made it to Flora's school in time where she threw her satchel in the back and jumped into the front seat.

"Go gentle on the car will you Flora?" Layton remarked when the car bounced an unusual amount.

"Sorry Professor" she apologised in that high pitched voice of hers.

The Professor sat at the table with both letters in front of him. Flora was clattering loudly in the kitchen, he wanted to get up and dissuade her from cooking. But just from the envelopes Layton knew there was a puzzle to be solved.

Carefully he opened the envelope, to find it empty. He picked up the folded and glued piece of paper and examined it for a moment. He found it was actually a double piece of paper and he separated them from each other. One of the sheets of paper that had made up the envelope was covered in small lighter patches of paper that were invisible except when held up against the light.

Layton then carefully opened the other envelope to find a sheet of paper with random words written all over it. He spent a few moments trying to work out if there was a pattern before he finally understood it.

"Flora! Come in here, I have a puzzle for you" he called. Flora readily obeyed, but not before turning the oven off – she knew how long the Professors puzzles could take.

"Today I have received two letters, I don't know who from; can you figure out what they say?"

"Of course Professor!" she chanted. Then she picked up both sheets of paper and turned them round, and round, and then upside down, and then placed one on top of the other. Then she folded them, and was about to rip them before the Professor stopped her.

"All puzzles have an answer Flora" he encouraged.

"I just don't know!" she cried, exasperated.

"Take this sheet of paper and cut out the squares of lighter coloured paper. Perhaps then it will become more obvious" he hinted.

Flora carefully sat down to work. The Professor snuck off to the kitchen and pulled Flora's "stew" out of the oven and put it in the bin. He then took out a stew he had made the previous night from the freezer and put it back in the oven. She would never know…

"I've got it Professor! Wait, what were you doing in the kitchen?"

"Nothing, so, what does the letter say?"

"Well, it says: Come Visit it's been a while, I need you now more than ever. Luke Triton"

"Luke… I knew it was him" the Professor mumbled to himself.

"Did you know what the letter said the whole time?"

"Yes, it wasn't too difficult to figure out, even without the paper with holes all of the words we were meant too read were written bolder. I would imagine it was because he wrote those words first"

"Oh… So are we going to go and visit Luke?"

"We will, but tomorrow. I can't leave Katia without telling her, and Dean Delmona of course"

"Great! We'll be able to eat my stew" Flora cheered and then rushed into the kitchen to take the stew out of the oven. "Uh. Professor? Why is the stew frozen? What's wrong with the oven?"

They ate quite late – as it took that long to defrost the stew - and as they were eating Katia finally came home. She looked dejected, as she usually did straight after work, and sat down without a word to warily stare down the stew. She looked up and saw the Professor was eating it without problem so she gently spooned it up. She found it wasn't too bad, and finished the whole thing off before Layton. She knew Flora and the Professor well enough to know that this stew had not been made by Flora. But she congratulated her on it anyway.

"How was your day, Katia?" the Professor asked her when she was sitting rather bloated next to him in front of the fire on the coach. Flora was sitting in a large armchair just across from them with a quilt and a cookery book.

"Oh, this and that" she motioned, "What about you? What of your letter?"

"Well that is a rather long story, but all thanks to Flora here" the Professor paused and Flora blushed "It was her that decoded the letter, and it was from Luke, so tomorrow we shall be going to Misthallery. I think there is some kind of trouble there, he asked for me to come especially"

"A quaint little village in the middle of the countryside, with an adventure waiting to happen? I would so love to come…" Katia stopped and stared for a moment into the fire. "But I can't, work is so dreadfully busy at the moment. I hope you won't be long" then she reached up and kissed the Professor full on the lips and he found himself turn red, Flora didn't notice and only continued to read. "My night shift starts in half an hour, so this will be good bye until you get back" she explained, before kissing him again.

The Professor woke up early, Katia still wasn't home yet. He wondered how she could work such ridiculous hours, but he had done that himself only a year or two earlier. He sighed, climbed out of bed and found Flora standing in his doorway.

"Ready to go, Professor?" she asked. The Professor laughed slightly as Flora stood standing eagerly with her bag.

"I only just woke up Flora, I won't be too long" he promised. Flora then rushed off downstairs, her freshly ironed orange dress blowing out behind her. The Professor was still half asleep, but he had to be quick. A gentleman never kept a lady waiting.

Only 15 minutes later Professor Layton and Flora were in the car (or Laytonmobile) and on their way to Misthallery.

"It'll be great to see Luke again, won't it Professor?" said Flora, for the fiftieth time. The Professor would have been getting annoyed with her, but he was too preoccupied and actually completely agreed with her.

"Flora, don't take it too hard if he has changed"

"He won't have changed! He'll still be Luke" replied Flora. Layton didn't want to say anything else that might put his daughter out of her happy mood.

It didn't seem like it took that long to get to Misthallery, even with Flora asking "Are we there yet?" every minute or so. But when they finally went up the hill just before they came to Misthallery, Layton knew there was something not quite right. The road split in two which was something the Professor did not remember.

"Which way do we go, Professor?" asked Flora, as the Professor stopped at the junction.

"I don't know," the Professor looked deep in thought. There were no clues at all to which route they should take. He took a guess and went down the right hand road. If in doubt, turn right. Layton hoped that it was the right road, if he had gotten this puzzle wrong what would Flora say?

The town was in view and the Professor drove as far towards it as he could before having to stop and park.

"We walk from here on, that won't be a problem will it Flora?"

"Of course not, Professor"

The Professor knew the way, and the town hadn't changed at all. Apart from a few empty spaces which now had buildings there instead. The town had recovered well from the "spectre" that had been haunting it for quite some time.

Flora was intrigued by everything, and the Professor had to reprimand her once or twice when she did something she shouldn't have. The walk was invigorating, and the Professor met many people who he recognised. It took a lot longer to get to the Triton residence than the Professor would have liked, but he didn't mind too much.

"Ooh! Does Luke live here?"

"Yes, he does"

The house they had come to was large; it had white brick and a red roof. There was a garage with a car much fancier than Layton's. They even had to walk up two flights of stairs just to get to the front door. Flora jumped excitedly and knocked the brass knocker loudly. Layton couldn't help but smile at her amazement at every little thing.

The door creaked open slowly, revealing Doland the butler standing there.

"Good afternoon, sir. What brings you here?"

"Good afternoon, Doland. I received a letter from Luke, is he in?"

"My lord… Professor Layton, was it? Come in, come in. Clark wants to see you"

Doland led Professor Layton and Flora up yet another flight of stairs to the second floor. The walls were brick and the corners were much cleaner than the last time the Professor had been there. Doland opened the door to Clarks study and ushered Professor Layton through.

Clark was deep in thought scratching at his beard and re-reading numbers but the moment he heard Professor Layton's "Good afternoon, Clark" his head snapped up and his face turned into a smile.

"Hershel! What a surprise,"

"Yes, well… This is my daughter, Flora"

"Good afternoon" Flora said with a curtsey.

"Daughter? Good lord, you have been busy"

"Yes, and you. Your town is looking rather splendid again"

"Only the part you see…'

"Pardon? What are you talking about?"

"Come downstairs, Doland will make us tea and I will tell both of you all about it"

They all went downstairs again and sat together in the living room. Doland brought them tea and cake and shortly Clark's wife Brenda came in and sat down with them. When they were all settled Clark started his story.

"It started only a little while ago, the street children simply disappeared. We saw no more of them, then slowly, parts of the town have been damaged. But not in an obvious way, the pipes for example under the ground were snapped. Many houses lost water for a long time. The problem was that we couldn't find where the damage was, we had to spend more resources to try and find them and it took such a long time… But the moment we fixed one thing another would be broken. The bridge for example that you took to get here was broken only the other day. Finch was walking across it when it snapped and he fell, I'm sorry to say he didn't make it. I think it is the street children who caused all of this, but the worst thing… We haven't seen or heard of Luke since he disappeared. I think he joined them. To destroy my town… Has he been in contact with you?"

"No, no he hasn't"

"So why did you come?"

"It's been a long time, I thought I would visit. That is all; it seems I turned up at the right time"

"So are you going to try and solve this as well?"

"Yes, my curiosity is piqued I simply must investigate"

"Well take care, as we already know these children are not afraid to take lives"

"Was Finch the only one?"

"So far, yes"

"How do you know that these haven't been accidents?"

"Because at every sight of something breaking there is one symbol, a black raven"

"Thank you Clark, you have been most helpful. I will solve this, and I will get your son back. There will be a reasonable explanation for all of this'

"Thank you Hershel"

"Come on Flora" encouraged the Professor as they left the Triton manor. Flora asked many questions on the way out, all of which the Professor couldn't answer. He didn't like leaving Flora at home by herself, but this situation was rather dangerous and it probably would have been better if he had.

It was getting cold and the mist had started setting in so it was getting damp as well. There were fewer people around than earlier and the Professor and Flora made good speed. Flora didn't know where they were going, but the Professor did. To the black market.

As it got darker it became more obvious that there were entire parts of town with nobody living in them. Probably because of the lack of water like Clark had said, but the Professor still had many questions. Especially to do with Luke, why was he destroying the town? If he even was, the Professor didn't even know that much yet.

Flora was getting tired and the Professor was tempted to retire to the hotel for the night, but he was far too curious for the time being for that. So at the entrance to the market he gave Flora some coins to buy a lollipop from Aunt Taffy. Flora seemed happy enough with that so they continued. The market was closed and mostly boarded over because, as Professor Layton remembered, it had been run mainly by children. Children who had now disappeared.

He followed the road through until he found the place where he had last accessed the black market. Flora was clinging tightly to his arm, it was too dark for her liking and the fog didn't help. He got so far before realising someone was standing right next to him.

"'Ello sir, we've been waiting for you. The hole's right there, mind the step" said Nabby. Pointing at a hole in the ground with a ladder sticking out of it that Professor Layton was sure hadn't been there before.

"Must we go down there?" asked Flora.

"If you wanna find your friend, then yeah. I'm so bored. Hurry up and I might get something interesting to do"

The Professor went first very cautiously and then helped Flora down afterwards. It was still cold, dark and damp when they reached the bottom of the ladder and it got even darker when Nabby closed the hole up the top. Flora shrieked at the sudden darkness and Layton found that he couldn't find her in the dark. "Flora! Flora where are you?"

"I'm here Professor!" she called. "Eeek!"

"Flora?"

A light flickered in the darkness and the Professor instinctively headed towards it.

"Sorry Professor, I would have been here sooner but Nabby up there didn't get me the message in time" apologised Luke. He wasn't wearing his trademark blue cap. He wasn't wearing anything blue at all. He was wearing grey shorts and a brown jumper. His hair was brown and looked quite messy. The lamp he was holding lit his features up from below, making him look a lot like Clive, though he looked a lot like Clive anyway.

Flora stumbled into the circle of light then "Who are you?" she asked Luke.

"Flora, you don't remember me? I'm Luke, ya do know me"

"You're Luke? You look… so…"

"Different" interrupted the Professor. "You look very different"

"Well, enough of that. C'mon, I'll introduce you to Crow he'll tell you what's what"

**What will happen next? Eek! Stay tuned to find out!**

**Crow: When you say that it sounds like you're advertising a TV show.**

**Me: Shut up! You're not supposed to have heard of TV yet! And you're not even in the story yet. **

**Anon: Neither am I, but I'm still here.**

**Crow: Who are you?**

**Anon: You'll find out later… Mwahahahahahaha**

**Me: Well that was weird. Moving on.**


	2. Chapter 2: How he has changed

**Ready for the next chapter? I hope I keep up dating this every day or two… Probably won't last knowing me. But oh well! I'm going to try anyway. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Professor Layton, but whoever does… is really lucky, awesome, magical, my idol e.t.c.**

Luke was leading the Professor and Flora through a tunnel, it was long dark and they couldn't see anything but the small lantern Luke was carrying. The Professor was deep in thought over something and Flora was still enjoying her lollipop. It wasn't very companionable.

"I guess you went and saw the mayor before you came here" stated Luke, not really expecting an answer. But the Professor, always the gentleman, replied.

"We did visit your father, yes. We had every reason to expect you to be there"

Luke stopped rather suddenly when the Professor had said that. But he shook his head and regained himself before continuing to walk on.

"That idiot, Parcelle" murmured Luke.

"Luke, that is not a very gentlemanly thing to call someone" said the Professor, out of habit.

"I gave him three letters to deliver to you in different places, and look how he screwed up. He only gave you two, am I right?"

"He did only give us two, but surely that isn't something to get worked up about. We're here now afterall"

"Huh"

The rest of the walk continued in silence. It started getting lighter very slowly, and up ahead there was a lot of activity.

"Ooh! Luke? What's going on?" asked Flora.

"They're preparing. Just keep walking" Luke said snappily. Flora felt let down at his reaction, she had been so looking forward to seeing Luke again. And he didn't even say hello to her. Maybe the Professor had been right about him changing…

The cavern was lit up with lanterns on every wall; there were tables, chairs, benches and beds in every spare space. And there were so many people, adults and children alike. Some were sleeping, some were fighting and some were hunched over building things. The Professor recognised a few of them, people from Misthallery – but it definitely wasn't all of them.

"Luke, what is going on down here?" asked the Professor as he nearly walked into a young boy and a woman who looked like they were trying to kill each other.

"Like I said, Crow'll tell you. But don't worry about them, it's all what they're supposed to be doing. They'd be for it if they weren't supposed to be doing that"

"What do you mean?" persisted the Professor. But Luke didn't reply. He only kept leading them forward. Many people, mainly children, called out to Luke in greeting as he walked by. He returned their greetings, and questions in a very friendly way. This only depressed Flora further… couldn't Luke be nice to her anymore?

"Luke?" she tried once more, but didn't even get a second glance. Luke had come to where he had been leading them and pushed aside a large wooden door. It looked like an auction house, but with more activity than it had probably ever seen before. Along one of the walls were a large amount of different sized black capes and masks. Everywhere there were children, and the Professor recognised all of them. They were busy making what looked like tools and weapons. And at the very top of it all stood Crow, he was looking out over everyone else for a few moments before returning back into the huddle of children to help everyone else. Shortly a girl with reddish-brown hair came up to him. The Professor recognised her as Wren. They exchanged a few words before Crow looked up at Luke.

"Come on down" Crow told them. Then Crow and Wren walked away from the difficult looking work that was going on and disappeared behind a curtain. Luke followed after them without checking to see if the Professor and Flora were following him.

Behind the curtain was a round table. Wren was sitting on the table with Crow on a chair beside her.

"I told you he'd come" said Luke to Crow.

"I believed you!" insisted Crow.

"No, no you didn't" argued Luke.

"I did to! Wren, you remember me saying I believed him don't you?"

"Sorry Crow, I'm with Luke on this one"

"'Course you are, darling' laughed Luke, pulling Wren up into a tight embrace. Wren was laughing and pretending to push away. Flora felt her chest tighten, and she struggled to control her feelings.

Crow made a noise of defeat and turned towards the Professor.

"Who's this girl, then?" he asked, not quite to the Professor but not really to Luke either.

"I'm Flora" said Flora, still trying to loosen the feeling in her chest. It wasn't helping that Wren was sitting on Luke's lap.

"Nice name, sounds like flower… Don't you think, Luke?"

"Shut up Crow!" joked Luke.

"Aw, come on. What would she say to that?"

"Who? Who would say what to that?" interrupted Flora.

"No one" smiled Crow innocently.

"Take no notice of him, he's just trying to annoy me" said Luke, making Wren laugh slightly.

"Now, Professor. I think you'll have some questions – as usual" said Crow.

"I do, I have a great number of questions"

"Well, we'll be going then. Things to do, see ya Crow and Flora, Professor" said Luke hurriedly before ducking out of the room with Wren.

"I'll start from the beginning" began Crow

**Hope you like it! All will be revealed next chapter… or most of it will be. Whose side are you on so far? Luke and Crow's or Clark Triton's? **

**Please review! **

**Anon: I'm not on either of those sides. I'm on my own side!**

**Me: Yeah… but who are you?**

**Anon: All will be revealed later! MWAHAHAHAHA *fades into the shadows***


	3. Chapter 3: Just what is going on?

**I have nothing to do! So I write more. Not too bad an idea.**

**So thanks for reading this, and reviewing! I know I don't like reading really long chapters so I'm going to try and make these at least kind of short… but I have a lot to say in this one. **

The Professor, Crow and Flora were all sitting around the round table. Flora had just finished her lollipop and wanted to go to sleep, she was yawning a lot. But Crow had a story to tell, and the Professor wanted to hear it.

"You've seen the market place up there, it's not like it used to be – is it?"

"No, it certainly isn't. What happened?"

"The mayor happened. One night a load of builders came into the market, and blocked it up. Just like that. Never spoke a word to anyone about it before or after. Where we were supposed to go? They didn't care. Soon some of the poorer families started disappearing. Wren out there – her brother hasn't been seen for a long time. But not just the kids, it was the adults too. We got word that the mayor wanted to 'purify' the town. The meetings he'd been holding… Luke told us about it. He spied on the mayor for a while. When we realised it wasn't going to get better we started evacuating anyone we thought would be taken down here. Luke came and joined us, he's been really helpful with it all – even though he is kind of clumsy. We've been getting through, we've survived"

"What about the… more well to do families?"

"They're fine, and in the council meetings they all agree with what the bloody mayor is doing"

"Do you know where the people who are taken go?"

"Not personally, no. But I can show you someone who has been. But tomorrow, when we're less busy. We're planning something for tonight. It'll have calmed down a bit by tomorrow"

"Does everything here happen under your command?"

"It does"

"The breaking of the bridge… that killed Finch?"

"That was us too"

"Why?"

"He was one of them too; everyone up there who isn't in hiding is one of them. We can't trust no one but ourselves. If you're gonna go back up there, take these. It'll stop any of our lot from ….. If you know what I mean?" said Crow - as he handed Professor Layton a small badge with a raven on it.

"Thank you, Crow. You have been most helpful"

"I'm guessing you'll want somewhere to stay? Find Luke in that throng of people out there, he'll show you where you can rest. He's in charge of the people part of this. I'll find you next time I'm free and you can 'meet' that person who's been to where the mayor takes ya"

The Professor and Flora stood up.

"Nice meeting you, Flora" said Crow. "Sorry for teasing Luke about that earlier, it wasn't anything to do with you"

"That's okay…" said Flora, before following the Professor.

"Heheh" Crow smiled to himself for a moment before following out after them to continue the work.

**So what did you think? I tried to answer as many questions as I could… I know that it wasn't exactly "tactfully" explained. But I hope it makes more sense now.**

**Please review! It makes everything more awesome!**

**Crow: Are you trying to get me and Flora together?**

**Me: No… *innocent angel look***


	4. Chapter 4: The Ravens first job

The Professor and Flora were forcing their way through the crowds of children. The Professor knew that they were children, but somehow they looked so much older. The past events had certainly forced them to mature much faster than was to be expected of them, and Crow was a great leader. Together these children were forming a rebellion against Luke's father – with another child as the one in charge. The Professor admired them, despite what they were doing. They had succeeded much, if what Crow had told him was true, in a very short time frame.

Flora was thinking different thoughts; Crow was the first one here out of everyone to be nice to her. Even the Professor seemed more reserved than usual. Not to mention Luke, and that girl… Didn't Luke know that she had liked him, but then… she knew that he had liked her too. And now Luke was with someone else, it had been a year or two. Flora had to expect it… Luke was growing older, and he was very charming- That was where she stopped her thoughts. I'm tired, she thought. That's all; I'll feel better in the morning.

It didn't take that long to find Luke, follow the laughter of Wren – noted Flora with a hint of jealousy even in her thoughts. They were sitting together, Wren was showing Luke a plan she had written down. "I've already shown this to Crow, all you have to do is relay it to the troops"

"I will do.. very shortly" Luke started tickling Wren, Flora felt even worse. But the Professor interrupted.

"Luke, Wren" greeted the Professor. Luke looked up, waiting for the Professor to continue. "Crow told me about what your father was doing"

"He's not my father. Not any more, he's a bloody bastard"

"Luke! Don't say that about your father-"

"Yeah yeah, it's not gentlemanly. Come on, I need to go out there anyway. I'll show you where you can spend the night" then Luke changed his tone of voice and addressed the entire group of "Black Ravens".

"We're moving out! I'm going to get a group of five to come in here – get ready to equip them. You know the plan!" then he turned to Wren "See you later love".

"Come on Professor, Flora. I guess you're pretty tired, right?"

"I am!" said Flora, perhaps a little too enthusiastically. She was so glad that Luke was finally speaking to her.

Luke led them through the crowd and opened the door. "Just wait here a moment, I need to organise the masses" Luke told the Professor and Flora.

"Attention everyone! We've decided who will accompany us tonight!" called out Luke, immediately commanding everyone's attention. "Section A is needed tonight, please come up here!" Five people, all young, and none who the Professor recognised came up to the front. "Just go through to the back, you will have everything explained to you in more detail there" Luke told them.

"Yes, Raven" they all chanted, and then they went through the door.

"The rest of you can take it easy, we're planning to lay low after this" And everyone who had been in the cavern disappeared through various side doors that the Professor hadn't noticed.

"Where did they all go?" Flora asked.

"Lazy bastards" mocked Luke. "We set up side chambers so they can rest. And if we ever need somewhere to retreat to… This main chamber is for working, training, building and sleeping. In other words, everything, except what they want to do"

"What do they want to do?" questioned Flora.

"If you want I'll show you, but um…" Luke stared warily at the Professor who was interesting himself in a machine that was sitting un-finished on a bench "but after he's asleep"

Then Luke led them down the stairs to the beds. "Pick a bed, any bed" mused the Professor "It's like a puzzle".

"No, it's not. Here, these two are unoccupied. They'll be yours for as long as you're going to stay. If you have anything you want to store keep it under the beds. No one will steal it. Well… most people here won't. I'm not speaking for any of the Black Ravens"

"Ah yes, Luke, that reminds me. Why did they call you Raven?"

"Hah. They don't need to know I'm the mayor's son. Think what that would do… I wouldn't survive the night. Well I still have more to prepare, and I need to check on everyone's work. That's my job here, you see. So, good night. Both of you"

"Umm… Luke?"

"Yes, Flora?"

"Where can I get changed?" Flora asked. Luke let out a very loud laugh, which made  
Flora shrink inwardly.

Crow stuck his head out of the door looking at Luke and Flora "Everything okay out here? I would have thought the workforce would have retreated- Oh." Crow stopped suddenly as he realised the noise had only been made by Luke. "Well, hurry up Luke, you haven't reported to me yet"

"Shut it Crow, you were the one that told me to make our guests comfortable"

"Actually, they're your guests… So it's your responsibility to make sure they're comfortable"

"Don't you have something better to be doing?"

"Yes, actually. And so do you" then Crow pulled himself back inside the room leaving the door slightly ajar behind him.

"It seems I really do have to go now. Good night, Flora, Professor" he left with a wink to Flora. Flora sat down on the bed, it was pushed up against the wall with only a metre gap between her bed and the Professors. There were small dividing curtains every block of beds or so, and a large curtain separating the beds from the tables and in between a large space clearly made for fighting. But there was no where near enough privacy for Flora.

"Professor, where do I get changed?"

"I think, Flora, that you will have to get changed where you are – or you will have to not get changed at all" Flora shrunk at that idea, but if Luke had been keeping his promise of coming back later perhaps she wouldn't need to get changed. So Flora agreed to sleeping in her clothes, and she settled down into the bed. It was surprisingly warm and comfortable, and Flora was very tired. But she refused to fall asleep - she was waiting for Luke.

The Professor meanwhile took off his jacket, jumper and shirt and climbed into his bed. Before remembering he hadn't removed his hat… I suppose it isn't such a big deal to remove it for one night he thought to himself as he took it off and hung it on his headboard. After all, only Flora was going to see him.

While they were trying to sleep in the cavern Luke was doing the opposite. "Do you have your Black Raven costumes? Do you understand what to do if you get caught? Do you have your cutters? We're ready then" Crow was already ready, he had his cloak on and his mask. He refused to let anyone know his true identity. The room was empty now spare for Louis, Luke, Wren and the five Luke had called from the other room. Luke, Wren and Louis were also ready and helping to kit out the other five. It was the most important thing that the original Black Raven's identities were preserved. Though only Crow knew why, and possibly Wren.

"Does anyone have any objections?" asked Crow, as he was being completely in character of the Black Raven he even made his voice sound strange. And even to Luke, Louis and Wren who were near him every waking second they couldn't have told it was him. Out of everyone he was the best at his characterisation.

"I do, I promised Flora that-"

"Promised Flora what? What did you promise Flora?" asked Wren – but also in the Black Raven's voice.

"Yes, what did you promise Flora and not this girl here?" asked Crow, mocking, but sounding evil with his put on accent.

"Nothing, it doesn't matter. I'm ready"

"Then let's go" commanded Louis. They took a back exit up to above ground. All of them moved silently, understanding the danger of what they were doing. They slipped down into the drains after walking above ground for only a short while. Only children could do this job, otherwise they were too tall. Luke was best, as he was still one of the shortest. Louis was tall, but they had to bring him with as he was best at engineering since Socket had… disappeared.

Crow knew the pipes like the back of his hand, and he willingly led the way. Then they started having to climb up a vertical pipe. Crow led the way again, pressing his feet against one side and moving his hands slowly up the other one. It took a long time to get them all out of the pipe but they managed it.

They were standing on the path where a building hung over one of the channels like an archway. There were buildings on both sides of the water and they looked empty.

"Are you sure this building is still empty?" asked Luke.

"I know it is" confirmed Crow. Luke didn't really understand where Crow got his information from, considering the amount of time he spent underground and how much time most of Crow's "secret" sources spent underground as well.

They went into the building in the dark. There was no body there, just as Crow had said. And they went quickly.

"Here'll do" announced Louis. "We'll do the hard work, the rest of you keep guard and you two keep these ropes steady.

They had gone up in the building to the part where it was hanging over the water. If Louis had gotten his construction plans right this was where they could set their trap. Crow and Louis carefully lowered themselves out through the window and it was there where they started loosening the brickwork. It was a delicate business, one wrong move and the whole structure could tumble. Then they had to loosen the bricks on the other side. Then they jumped a bit in the middle until they heard creaking.

Next they ran out of the building and jumped down the pipe. Luke was the last one down the pipe, but before he jumped her turned to face outwards towards his town. He took a small flute out of his pocket, and he played. Then he scratched a Black Raven into the wall. "What is that?" he screamed at the top of his lungs, and he jumped down the pipe.

"Run for it guys!" yelled Crow, still leading the way.

Up above ground people were coming towards Luke's scream. They made it underneath the archway and saw the Raven drawn on the ground. They realised too late their mistake as the building crashed down on them. Luke heard one thing before the stones killed their voices forever "My baby!". The worst was that he knew who it was… The same woman had helped the Professor, him and Emmy and now it was Luke that killed her. But it had to happen, and he forced his mouth to stop quivering.

Crow on the other hand almost took pleasure in the feeling, he was rushing along at an alarming rate with a smile plastered to his face. Luke could tell he was smiling despite his mask; it was evident in his body language. He knew him that well by now. It had been a long time…

**Eep! Mimi died! The first actual act of violence caused by the Black Ravens… What is this world coming to? I don't take as long as I'd like to write these things so I apologise for any mistakes. Is there a reason behind Clarks stupid actions? Well I can promise one thing… the next chapter is gonna be gruesome… Well, my version of gruesome. It probably won't be that gruesome. But hey. **


	5. Chapter 5: Those who meet the mayor

Flora was lying in bed, still waiting for Luke. It was getting later and she could hear the Professors gentle breathing. People started filing into the main chamber and they settled down on the various beds. There were a few squeals, groans and the occasional talking. Flora listened intently, still trying to keep her eyes open for Luke… She'd never done anything that she hadn't told the Professor about and she was exhilarated. But she still found her eyes drooping; surely Luke would wake her up, when he came… if he came…

The Professor was woken up by a Black Raven. He found it rather startling that a mask with a long beak hanging over his face was the first thing to see when he woke up; but he refused to let it bother him.

"Good morning" he started, but was unsure how to finish as he didn't know who it was. Everyone looked the same when covered in a Black Raven costume.

"You wouldn't want to wake the girl" the Black Raven crooned, "What you are about to be shown… well… she wouldn't want to see it"

The Professor thought about this long and hard, he completely believed the Black Raven that Flora would not want to see it. But then, he wasn't ready to leave her alone in a cavern full of such rowdy though they may be asleep people. The Professor remembered Luke's words of warning well enough… maybe the Black Ravens would steal Flora? As ridiculous though it may seem the Professor was persuaded by this.

"She's coming with" he announced.

"Very well," cackled the Black Raven "Wake her up"

The Professor was feeling very self conscious, he was aware that he was still shirtless, and shock horror hatless as well. But he climbed out of the bed and walked the few steps to Flora's bed. "Flora dear? It's time to get up now" he gently coaxed her. She didn't move.

"You need to do a bit more than that! She's a teenager after all" laughed the Black Raven. Then he pulled the blankets off of her and chortled as he did. Flora sat up immediately with a dignified "Oh!"

The Professor stood rather awkwardly in front of his daughter.

"Professor, you're…" she trailed off, it wasn't ladylike to make a big thing about what he wasn't wearing. Instead she turned her head towards the Black Raven. "Who are you?" she asked.

The Black Raven laughed "Get dressed, both of you. Hurry up hurry up!" Then he stood staring at both of them.

"Excuse me but would you mind started the Professor.

"Hurry! We can't wait all day! We have a raid to do!" exclaimed the Black Raven, giving a hint of his true identity as his voice wasn't as hidden as his face. But not yet enough for the Professor to name him; though he was now sure that it was a male, and young. But, of course, he knew that already.

The Professor shifted quietly and without further protest. He daren't get fully unchanged, so instead chose to only put on a fresh shirt, jumper and then pull on his normal jacket. He finished off his trademark look with his top hat.

Flora, meanwhile, thought it was unheard of to wear the same thing two days in a row. And she puffed out her chest, and attempted to stop her cheeks from going red whilst she changed.

The Professor had finished before her and turned around, to find his daughter pulling a dress on and the Black Raven staring right at her.

"Excuse me" started the Professor "But that is rather impolite". He was about to reveal the Black Ravens identity so he could deal with him properly before the Black Raven started running. "Catch me if you can" he called out with glee. Then the Professor and Flora had no choice but to run after him. They followed him in between the beds of people who were still fast asleep, and some people who weren't. But nobody was being anywhere near as active as the Professor and Flora.

The Black Raven seemed to have no weight to him at all, finding it incredibly easy to jump over beds, tables, and people. The Professor and Flora had to take the long route and go around everything. But they knew where he was running to the large double wooden doors.

Once past them there was noise, and bustle. The Black Ravens, it seemed, got no rest. The one in particular that the Professor and Flora had been chasing had disappeared amongst the others.

"Professor!" called out a girl from behind the curtain. "Professor! Over here!" she called again.

The Professor and Flora walked once again through the children. But this time, it was different. The children did not look as busy; they looked more like they were having fun. A few of them looked to be playing a chasing/fighting game. While two that the Professor recognised as Nabby and Badger were sharing a bottle of something. Layton shivered at what he guessed was inside it surely they could not be that old?

Flora looked around her in excitement; she'd never really had any close friends. Not beyond Luke, and they had never really played very much. The Professor simply had an aura that made everyone around him older, and … though she hated to admit it … more boring. Even the school she went to was boring, a school for young ladies, none of the girls there ever played games.

But soon they were in the round table room. That was missing one thing. That's right, it was missing the round table. Instead there was a mattress set up on the ground where Luke was lying. Marilyn was sitting next to him, and Crow was on the other side.

"I'm fine! Really I am" insisted Luke then he tried to sit up which didn't work out.

"Luke! Just stay still for once? Please?" begged Marilyn. She was trying to apply something to his chest.

Flora got a little closer, and felt herself blush. Luke was shirtless. But then she started to feel sick, on his chest there was an ugly looking cut.

"Hello Professor" greeted Luke when he realised that the Professor had come in.

"Luke, dear god, what on earth happened to you?" he asked.

"I was on my way to see you, Flora, and I tripped into a table. Those tables have all sorts of things on them as you know, and I was in a hell of a lot of pain… I'm sorry I couldn't make it

"Why were you on your way to see Flora?" asked the Professor, with his usual calm tone.

"It was this morning Professor. But they had to send… someone else out instead of me" then Luke winked at Flora. She felt herself blush even more, and she even tried to wink back.

"This is all very well and good" interrupted Crow, "but I promised to take you to someone, Professor. So shall we go?

The Professor nodded and Crow lead Flora and Professor through another door neither of them had known existed.

"Luke was lying, Crow. What really happened?" asked the Professor as they were walking through the dark.

"That was the truth, Professor. Why ask me? I wasn't there

The Professor couldn't think of anything to say to that.

"But maybe you should think… what is it that caused Luke to start lying to you? He is not the sort of person to change for his own amusement. He did truly love you, Professor" then Crow sealed up refusing to say anything more. They were walking through a cave for what seemed like a long time. But they soon came to another cavern, though this one was considerably smaller. The Professor had to duck down to enter into it.

"Do not take another step further" warned Crow, as the Professor and Flora were about to walk even further into the darkness. Crow finally lit a lantern and handed it to the Professor. That was the moment when the stench finally hit them; the Professor was reminded of Flora's cooking. Flora was reminded of a butchers shop.

"Eww! What is that smell?" asked Flora. Crow didn't answer; he waited for the view to answer it. Only a few steps in front of the Professor and Flora was an arm. It was reached forward towards them and the nails were missing. It was white, and looked bloated and spotty. The Professor walked forward to find what the arm was "attached" to. It was attached to a body, sort of. The bone was missing, and the arm was only sitting on the rest of the body because of a layer or two of skin. The Professor knelt down only to drench the bottom of his coat in blood.

"How long has he been here?

"About two months

"Then the blood must still be wet because of the moisture down here…"

"You're right"

"Why haven't you moved him?

"Walk forward a little more Professor, and you'll have that question answered

Flora looked rather pale, and Crow led her out of the cavern. She started crying then "What happened to him?" she asked, but Crow didn't reply. She would only cry more. Instead Crow pulled her closer and hugged her. "It's okay, Flora. This is why we're fighting. To stop this happening

The Professor was still in the cavern, and he had done as Crow had told him. It didn't take long for him to figure out who the person was. It was undoubtedly Socket, his face was intact spare for the occasional scratch and one black eye. But every limb was ripped. Each finger dislocated. There were no flies, but there was mould. Starting on his legs a thick mould was growing over him. The Professor couldn't look at him any longer, and took another step forward. Only to find someone else this time a woman.

She was naked, and the Professor turned from her. She looked pregnant as well… He walked, and walked to find only more dead. Each one more violent, more gruesome and a lot more painful than the last. One person had a hole where their stomach used to be, it had been cut in half and opened out. Who had done this? These were people who had met Clark, but Clark wouldn't have… Clark couldn't have…

The Professor walked out of the cavern then. Crow was still holding Flora, who was no longer crying. She took a deep breath when the Professor came up to them and separated from Crow with a quick "I'm okay now" to Crow's worried comments.

"What happened?" asked the Professor.

"The mayor. As far as we know. They would disappear, then we would find them in the trash of the Triton estate. Luke actually… he saw it happen. He saw it happen to… to my father actually"

"Crow, I'm so sorry"

"Don't be. I was used to surviving without him, others weren't so used to it. Nabby nearly lost his head when his parents left…"

"Was it only the Black Ravens?"

"Only the people who argued with the builders when they came to lock up the market, and the ones who got caught. I got most of us underground to hide, but I couldn't persuade the adults. And I couldn't persuade Socket" then Crow looked down, remembering something.

"If I haven't persuaded you yet that our case is for the better I don't know what will" continued Crow after leaving them in silence for a little longer.

"I would like to speak with Luke

"Hm. Luke eh? You'll have to ask him. But if you're going to ask what I think you're going to ask I reckon I should find something that Flora can help with

"That sounds like a nice idea, I think that today has been a bit tough on her so far. Oh, and… Crow… one of your Black Ravens, who was it that came to collect us?

"Oh I can't possibly tell you that!" laughed Crow. "Though I know exactly why you're asking. Don't think about it too hard, Flora's a wonderful girl of course guys are going to look at her!

That made the Professor feel even more protective, but he did trust Crow more than Luke even especially at the moment. So he didn't speak out.

"I'll have a word to him, I promise Professor" continued Crow when he noticed the Professors expression.

"Do you really think I'm wonderful?" asked Flora, she felt overwhelmed by everything that had happened in the last few days and didn't think to be a lady and take the compliment graciously.

"'Course I do, I think most guys do" said Crow. Flora felt herself go red and the Professor wasn't so sure if he still trusted Crow.

"Thank you.." said Flora nervously.

The Professor didn't like how this was turning out, but it was too late for him to say something now. And after all Flora did need to take a break from all of this serious investigation business…

"Oh and if I don't see you stay away from that arch that leads to the Plaza , not a good place to be right now

"Why not?"

"Oh, I just think that when Luke bumped into that table it might have made the arch fall down. Just a guess of course, I wasn't there

**Well that was longer than I expected… Crow and Flora romance! Yay! On a sadder note… how could Clark do that to Socket? If Clark did it to Socket… Ooh…. Maybe there's someone else evil in this story… like CLIVE! **

**Clive: What? I thought I was in prison!**

**Me: Yeah, you are. But shush! I just wanted to build the suspense… *pushes Clive under desk* **

**Now, where was I…? Please review! Reviews make the world go purple! But in a good way!**


	6. Chapter 6: The end of the apprentice era

**Thank you all for the reviews! **

The Professor walked into the back room once again and he saw Luke still lying on the mattress; but in his mind he saw Socket. And the Black Ravens parents in there… no wonder they all acted so grown up. None of them had gotten here without loss. He thought about how much pressure Crow was under, he was the one in charge, the one they all looked up to… how would they survive without him? The Professor decided, right then and there that he was going to find out what Clark was doing. He had to. A gentleman always helps others in need.

When Crow came through into the back room after the Professor he kneeled down next to Luke and whispered something. Whatever he had said made Luke sit bolt upright and demand Crow to tell him more. Crow refused with a wave of his hand and led Flora out of the room. Marilyn was no longer in the room; and it was only the Professor and Luke.

"Perhaps you should lie back down my boy" suggested the Professor. Luke said nothing, but did lay back down again. The Professor allowed himself a small smile, this was an improvement.

"Shouldn't you be going to visit the mayor? To find out why he did all of those things? Not that you'd need to. We all know why he did…" then Luke's voice trailed out, but the Professor could still see him mouth "the bloody bastard…"

"Luke!" he apprehended "It is not gentlemanly to say such things about your father"

"I don't care! He deserves it!" yelled Luke "He deserves worse! You weren't there… why won't you just believe me…"

"You haven't been as welcoming as I expected, my boy. It is only right for me to not believe you right away. Crow told me that you witnessed his father being tortured, are there any other details you would like to add?"

"I saw the mayor and Doland, our… I mean his… butler. And I saw Crow's father. At the time I didn't know it was Crow's father, but later, after I ran down her and Crow… Crow found me…"

"It seems you have a story to tell, start from the beginning if you will" asked the Professor, he was in a reasonably cheery mood. Luke had decided to talk to him for more than five seconds, this was definitely some improvement.

"I thought the mayor had been acting strangely… he was even busier than usual… and my mother, she was arguing with him a lot. But then, one morning when she said good morning to me in the parlour; she had a black eye. I asked her what it was and she told me that she had fallen down the stairs. What a lie… she never argued with the mayor after that. Then one night I saw my father beating a man in the cellar. I tried to ignore it, but all through the house… it was horrible. My father came out from the cellar and saw me, he told me to go to Arianna's to play… I couldn't… when my father… I mean when the mayor went to fetch Doland… I went down into the cellar. The man was sitting in the corner and he was terrified of me. I was the mayors boy, and he knew it. He thought I was going to torture him… I tried to persuade him to escape but he wouldn't. Then my father came back down with Doland so I hid as best I could… then I saw the whole thing… The man was held down by Doland… and then… the mayor had knives, and other things… he… The mayor sliced across the man's face while keeping perfectly calm…

He was saying to the man "This is what happens if you litter my sweet township! You and your god-cursed children! You have dulled this place to it's very core! Your type has to leave, and if you want to stand up against me then this is what will happen!" but more than that… The mayor kept talking in this way saying what a pest, and a disease this mans "type" were. At the time I didn't even know what his "type" were… I just sat and watched. Then my father slit down the mans chest and left him. Not even deep, but the man couldn't move… I tried to get him out then… but he died… In my arms… Then I ran to the market, I knew that that was where he had come from so I went and tried to tell them… But there was no market – it was boarded over. A few children were walking the streets aimlessly and I ran up to one of them. He spat at me saying that I was a brat… I cried even more then…

Then Crow turned up, out of nowhere. He said something loudly to the other children, but I don't remember what… then he picked me up, and I woke up here. No other person, spare for Crow has been told that I am the mayor's son. True, they do recognise me as such, but when questioned it is an unfortunate lookalike… It hasn't even been that long but so much has happened…"

"I can understand that that would have been hard for you to deal with, but there is no need to take it out by acting so brashly"

"What would you know? You've been the perfect gentleman all your life… everything always goes in your favour some way or another. I thought that that was the way to live, the only way to live… But I understand now why the rest of them called me a brat, and laughed at me… because they have to work. I didn't. And I have a lot of working to do to make up for it"

"My boy, just because you are more privileged does not make you a brat! You try your hardest, and you did work. Remember all of those cases you helped me solve?"

"Don't try it, Professor. Just solve this case, for everyone's sake. I'm not your apprentice any more" Luke pulled himself up as he finished this sentence. "If I were you, I wouldn't trust Crow as much as you do. Yeah, he's nice, but he's still a teenage guy who's been through one hell of a lot" then Luke pulled open the curtain and left the Professor standing there.

"Thank you for the heads up my boy" murmured the Professor. He still felt shell shocked from Luke no longer wanting to be his apprentice. Surely he must have heard Luke wrongly? How could Luke not want to be his apprentice anymore? All his life the Professor had had someone there, by his side. Flora was nice… but the Professor had to admit that she wasn't the same. He was Professor Hershel Layton, Professor of Archaeology at Gressenheller University, and he had just lost his number one apprentice.

**I have to admit… I didn't see that coming. And I'm the one writing it… But don't worry! Everything will turn out okay! But not after some ridiculous plot twist that will probably involve the Professor pointing at some evil person who's in disguise who then will run off and make some massive machine that attacks a town that is actually fake! Think about it… this does happen A LOT. **

**Please review and I might actually put some more effort into the plot twist than what's written above! … actually… I will put more effort than the above…**


	7. Chapter 7: The consequences of alcohol

**Now I'm going to use my magic author-ness and make everything worse! :)**

Crow had told Luke that he and Flora had kissed. Although it was a complete fabrication on Crow's part it did get the desired response from Luke. Crow loved winding Luke up; although he knew what Luke had gone through, and what he himself had gone through, Crow was a firm believer in being kids for as long as possible. No matter what. The idea of being an adult like the Professor, or even worse… Luke's father, seemed to him like the worst idea in the world.

After enjoying Luke's reaction Crow went out to the auction room. Or, the old auction room. The Black Ravens were still enjoying themselves, and Crow had to smile as Wren ran past him chasing after Scraps who had clearly taken something from her. But although the Black Ravens were interesting enough to watch Crow found the most interesting person in the room was Flora and the interest that she was taking in everything else. But he did notice that she seemed to be looking for something in particular as he followed her around. When he asked her directly she told him what he hadn't really expected to hear.

"I'm looking for Arianna – Luke talked of her quite often" Flora's voice was so innocent and sweet, she didn't know… she clearly didn't understand.

"Arianna is still up top, with her brother Toby"

"But why is that?"

"She's not one of us, she's one of them… It's rather hard to explain". Flora was seemed satisfied enough with that answer, and Crow was willing to let the subject drop.

"Come on, I'll introduce you to Louis and Badger" announced Crow, breaking the silence. Flora agreed readily with this proposal, more people, and even better - more interesting people.

Crow sat down next to them, and offered Flora a seat which she took graciously. Louis was talking something technical about an arch to Crow, and Badger was looking her up and down. Flora felt kind of uncomfortable about that and Badger then made some quiet remark to Louis. Flora knew it was about her, and her cheeks flared red. Crow noticed, as he had to be observant - even on his off days. He asked Badger what he'd said and Badger said it out loud "I've seen her topless". Then he started laughing. Crow stood up then, and even Louis – the tallest – cowered. Everyone in the room stopped and stared, when Crow wanted to start a fight everyone wanted to watch. Badger tucked himself back inside his jumper and tried to hide from Crows never ending punches.

"Crow, do you really think that's necessary?" asked Luke, who had just walked out from under the curtain. Crow stopped then, and turned back towards Luke. Luke was still shirtless, and everyone could see his still bleeding cut. Marilyn ran towards him and wound a bit of fabric around him so quickly that even Crow had to think twice whether she had moved or not.

"I do. Otherwise, my boy" he paused there, he had tried his hardest to imitate the Professors tone, and it had actually turned out pretty well as everyone in the room started chuckling quietly "I wouldn't be doing it"

"You've never reacted before. You had no care when the other girls were getting changed, you would stare as much as the rest of us" Flora felt herself start blushing again, she didn't like how this conversation was turning out. There were even a few murmurs of "Yeah, he's right" from the boys – and the girls.

Crow had nothing to say to that, Luke had won, but he didn't really like the sound of that… "You can't accuse me of thinking that Flora's different. I was defending her, because she is the Professors daughter and the Professor has decided to help us. But you can't speak, look at you! Hopelessly in love with her… What would Wren say if she knew how you reacted to what I told you earlier? Oh, oops, Wren's sitting right there" the moment Crow had finished he knew that he had gone too far. But he had won, and he knew it as well as Luke did.

"Yes, I loved Flora. I'm not going to lie" then Luke stopped talking and walked up to Wren. Wren hadn't moved since Crow had spoken, in her opinion – Luke had a lot of explaining to do. Wren and Luke left together into yet another side room.

Flora was left sitting on the floor next to Louis and a bruised Badger. Crow was still standing over her defensively.

"Scraps, do we have enough food to last another week?" asked Crow, returning to his usual self. Following his example everyone else did as well.

"I'd say we do, but the lot out there are complaining it's getting colder"

"We'll need more wood then… We'll have to keep them in the separate chambers… Luke! Wren! I don't care how important it is get out here we have people to keep alive!"

Flora only sat, not really taking very much in. She was happy, Luke had loved her. Luke had loved her. And now he was sitting in front of her shirtless, but Flora didn't even notice he had come over and she didn't notice Wren sitting next to her and she didn't notice Badger and Louis going away. All she knew was that Luke had loved her.

She didn't notice until Crow tapped her on the shoulder, she snapped out of her thoughts and she realised she had been staring at Luke… but not just at Luke… she had been staring at Luke's chest. She felt herself blush an even brighter red than she had been before and tried to focus on what they were saying.

"Have a drink, Luke, you're looking kind of pale"

"Probably the blood you've lost from all that shouting" teased Wren as she handed Luke a bottle of something. After Luke had taken a gulp he passed it to Wren. Wren took a gulp and passed it to Flora. Flora stared at it distastefully, but she took a sip anyway. It was disgusting; it burnt her throat and made her eyes water. She wanted to be sick… how could the others drink it so easily? But she didn't want to seem weak, so when the bottle was passed around a second time she took a larger drink. If anything, it had only gotten worse.

"So you will be able to get me a group of at least 5 people, all fit and able to come to the forest?" asked Crow. Flora felt dizzy and was listening to them all talking about important things, she was only thinking of Luke… and then of Crow… and then back to Luke again… "What would Crow look like without his top on?" She wondered out loud. Wren was the one with the bottle and was taking a sip, when she heard Flora say this - she spluttered and coughed. Luke tried to hide a smile, without success and even Crow was chuckling. She hadn't realised that she had said that out loud she assumed someone had cracked a joke… she started laughing as well.

"If you really want to know, you could just take it off yourself" suggested Wren, who was trying to hold in her laughter. She was trying to trick Flora, and it was a very cruel joke. Flora didn't realise what she was talking about and shrugged like she couldn't be bothered either way. Wren handed her the bottle again, and Flora took another sip. It was nicer this time round, and Flora actually finished the bottle. Wren only pulled out another one, but this time she didn't give it to Flora.

Crow, Wren and Luke started talking business again and Flora once again got lost in her own thoughts… Perhaps I could, I'm sure he wouldn't mind. Luke looked very pale, why would he be pale? Not enough blood… But Crow has lots of blood and Wren does too. Wren's hair looks like blood maybe Luke could eat Wren's hair… Then she started cackling with laughter at that thought. The others all turned their heads towards her and Crow asked with a raised eyebrow "Are you okay?"

Flora stopped laughing and looked him full in the face for as long she could bare it. Her thought were skittering around so fast in her head that she couldn't follow them. Maybe his lips will make them slow down? Then she pulled Crow by his scarf closer towards her and kissed him on the lips for as long as she could before needing to breath. She finished it off by flicking his cap off of his head and laughing at that as well. Crow took it all with good grace, until he lost his hat. Then he jumped over Luke and ran down the seats until he found it. Marilyn had it and she was waving it at him.

He ran up to her, took his hat and kissed her on the head just before saying "Thanks dear". That was then he noticed something… The Professor was standing in front of the curtain and what had he just seen? How long had he been there? The Professors face answered Crow's question. Damn… was the only word that could come to Crow's mind. Damn.

**I just had to! I thought they'd be a cute couple. Not that it's going to last now that the Professor's seen them… Spoilsport. I'll get back to the actually mystery next chapter, but I like putting random bits and pieces in all the time. I hope you don't mind. Please review! **


	8. Chapter 8: People change, and a bet

The Professor had only just recovered himself from Luke being so unlike himself, and then he took one step out of the back room and found Crow and Flora entangled in each other. At first the Professor didn't know who the girl was, he could only see the back of Crows head but as his eyes skimmed across the rest of the room he couldn't find Flora. It had to be her. Luke had been right, no matter how the Professor didn't want to believe him; Luke had been right. And the Professor regretted not taking his warning to heart. Crow had betrayed his trust.

Crow had then broken away from Flora eventually to run after his hat that had somehow fallen off of his head. Closer towards where the Professor was. The Professor couldn't think of anything to say to him… he could say that it was ungentle-manly but why would Crow care about that?

The Professor took a step forwards and raised his hand. Crow only stood there, accepting the consequences of his actions. He was, after all, no stranger to being slapped. Everyone in the room gasped when the Professors hand fell upon Crows exposed cheek, and everyone expected Crow to hit back. But he didn't, he only stood there looking up at the Professor.

"Extraordinary circumstances cause extraordinary things to happen, Professor. But that doesn't mean that you can't undo those things. Nobody is ever lost forever" said Crow, resisting the temptation to cringe or put his hand to his face. He was sure that it had the bright red imprint of the Professors hand.

The Professor was about to apologise – but he stopped himself. Putting being a gentleman aside it was Crows fault and he had to apologise first, but of course Crow didn't. Because apologising meant feeling sorry, and Crow didn't feel the least bit sorry.

He walked up to where Flora was and took her arm. Flora was still feeling dizzy, and she hadn't really taken in what had just happened.

"I promised to solve this case, and a gentleman never breaks a promise, but I am not staying down here. Thank you, everyone, spare for you Crow" announced the Professor. All of the Black Ravens were still sitting in shocked silence, and they didn't start moving until the Professor had finally – and firmly – shut the door behind him.

Crow looked out over all of the Black Ravens, all of these teenagers depended on him being responsible. It was him that had to look after them, and lead by example. He knew that he wasn't perfect, and he knew that the Black Ravens weren't perfect - as long as they got the job done Crow didn't care what they did. But maybe it was about time to start caring – they were running a revolution.

"Wren, Louis and Badger! With me in the back room now, we need to start planning. We don't have enough time to lay low anymore" then Crow stalked out of the room into the back. And everyone continued as usual. Except for Luke…

Luke saw the Professors retreating back, and he wasn't in the mood for sitting amongst the rest of the teenagers. No matter how much he had tried to change he was still a mayor's boy at heart, and the street children's rowdiness was too much for him. He stood up and strolled out as casually as he could, no one even cast him a second glance.

"Professor! Please, wait for me!" he called just as he closed the door behind him. The Professor turned around, and although he tried not to his face lit up when he saw it was Luke. Although he was still topless, and that was not very gentlemanly at all.

"I might not be your apprentice any more, but I can still help. And I want to help because this is my town, and it is being ruined by both the mayor and now the Black Ravens too" Luke burst out. The Professor looked at him and saw that Luke was not lying. Then the Professor remembered Crows words "Nobody is lost for ever", and he knew that he had to let Luke come with them.

"Then you may come with, my boy, after all helping ones home town is what a gentleman does" said the Professor, and he noted with growing excitement the smallest smile slip across Luke's face.

"But Professor, what of Flora?" asked Luke, turning to face the spot where Flora had just been. Flora was no longer there. She was actually in the process of dancing provocatively with another girl while a few boys – none whom the Professor recognised – cheered them on. Luke had to bite his tongue to stop himself laughing, and even then he let out a giggle or two. The Professors usually calm demeanour just fell completely away and the Professor ran into the circle that had formed about them.

"Flora!" he yelled as he pulled her away. The boys and other girl disappeared quickly then. "What have they done to her?" the Professor turned on Luke.

"What do you mean Professor? She's only had too much to drink. Have you never been drunk before?" Luke teased, not at all expecting the Professors stunned and confused look.

"Of course not Luke, it isn't gentlemanly to let oneself go that much. And I would hope that you have never been 'drunk' either" the Professor was clutching Flora tightly to stop her from going anywhere. She was singing a song about a necklace of rope… but it was hard to hear anything other than that.

"You can hope all you want Professor" murmured Luke, he didn't want the Professors anger to flare up against him so he turned his head when he spoke. It was lucky for him that Flora was keeping the Professor too distracted to listen to Luke properly.

"How can I… undo it?" asked the Professor to Luke. Luke nearly stumbled, did the Professor really mean that? Surely the Professor knew… surely he had at some point in his life… This was something he and Crow would have had a long laugh at, but he wasn't with Crow at the moment. He was with the Professor.

"She will need water and sleep"

"Then we shall go to Clarks"

"Haven't you listened to a single word anyone has told you? Haven't you seen what he's done to people! I am not going there! Never!"

"He misses you Luke, he asked specifically for me to find you"

"Then I'm not coming. No way. And I don't think you should take Flora either, he's evil now Professor!"

"Then stay here, my boy. We will continue our investigation above ground, if you ever want to- "

"Goodbye then Professor" Luke cut in sharply. He was so prepared to go with the Professor, for things to maybe turn out like they had been before but that was not going to happen. The Professor had too much trust in the wrong things. So Luke growled softly and then turned away. Back to the Black Ravens, he thought… It was all he had now. And at least they hadn't deserted him, at least they believed him.

"Luke, perhaps it is better if you take care of Flora for me" suggested the Professor. Luke turned back to the Professor to find him covered in vomit. "But please keep her away from Crow, and all of the others… I trust you, my boy, but not them". Luke snickered as the Professor tried to look dignified.

"Course I will, Professor" agreed Luke, and then took Flora by the arm and lead her to the only place any of them could wash. The Professor left then, and Luke was glad he had. Crow had come out of the auction room dressed as a Black Raven and was now just in front of Luke.

"I need you in the back, Luke. We have a new plan" cackled Crow. He chose not to acknowledge Flora, and the fact that Luke was wiping Flora's face. And that the Professor had left. Luke attempted to pick Flora up then, and nearly dropped her.

"Let me" offered Crow, and he took the now sleeping girl from Luke's hands as though she was lighter than a feather. Luke scowled, show off - he thought.

"Did you see the Professor walking away, completely covered in-" started Luke.

"Yes, yes I did" agreed Crow. They were walking through the now empty cavern, everyone had retreated into the side caves where it was warmer. Then both of the boys looked at each other, and even through the Black Ravens mask Luke could tell that the corners of Crow's mouth had just slipped upwards, it wasn't much longer before they were shaking with laughter.

"And… Crow, did you know.., the Professor has never had a drink! He said.. that it wasn't gentlemanly to let oneself go that much" Luke continued, he loved making Crow laugh, he loved making anyone laugh. The Professor had never really laughed with him, or at least not as much as Crow was laughing now. Flora was curled up in a bed where Crow and Luke had decided to stop. They had been laughing too much to walk any further.

"Of course it isn't, my boy!" said Crow, imitating the Professor again. "The very idea that you would want to is ridiculous!"

"Oh of course, Professor, I would never drink. I'm perfect you see!" continued Luke.

"But, my boy, how exactly would one go about getting drunk if they wanted to?"

"Oh well, Professor, you would have to start by walking up a very high hill, when you get there you have to spread your arms and spin twice" said Luke, while demonstrating "and then you have to do the drinking dance…" he said while he started jumping and waving his hands about. Crow jumped up then and started jumping about with him. "And that, Professor is how you get drunk!" finished Luke as he collapsed onto the nearest bed - coincidentally the one Flora was in.

"I bet he would too" said Crow. "If you told him to, he would do it"

"I doubt that, he's smart enough to know that I would be lying"

"You know what you should do? Next time you see the Professor you should lie to him about something and see if he realises"

"What should I lie to him about?" asked Luke, he was so hyped up that in that moment he would have agreed to anything. Crow then moved a little closer to Luke and whispered in his ear.

"I can't say that! He'll kill me!" objected Luke.

"Then say I did" shrugged Crow.

"Then he would kill you!" argued Luke.

"Fine, then. Don't tell him, it's your choice"

"Oh whatever then, I'll tell him. I bet he wouldn't believe me anyway"

"I bet you a tenner he will" said Crow, pulling out a note.

"It's on" agreed Luke, and then they shook hands, sealing their deal. And perhaps, Luke's fate. The boys fell asleep in their respective beds then, Luke wrapped around a murmuring Flora and Crow by himself. But he was used to it, all he had was being a leader and even in that moment he was a leader still. He was still wearing his cloak and mask.

**What was Luke dared to say? You'll find out in the next chapter… or the one after that. Or maybe the one after that. It'll come eventually. I had to put some friendship between Luke and Crow in… but I think I remember saying that this chapter would have the mystery in it. Well I was wrong. Oops. There will be more mystery next chapter. Maybe. **

**The Professor has never been drunk! Well… I can't really imagine him being drunk… it's just two images that don't go together very well. Unless there was some mysterious way of getting drunk by drinking tea… but I doubt that.**

**The Professors violent side is coming out… Oooh… How do you reckon he would react to seeing his daughter kiss some random street teenager person? **

**On another note… I painted my fingernails ying yang style! Yep, that was random. Sorry. Please Review and I will update later tonight – my time!**


	9. Chapter 9: Trust in your friendships

**I've just recently discovered something. I lie a lot. I did mean to update later the same night with at least a short chapter but that didn't really work out for me… So here's the next chapter later than I planned it but here nonetheless!**

The Professor knew the way out of the cavern, even in the pitch black, he didn't forget important details like that that easily.. It was dark, cold and he hadn't felt that alone since… since Claire died. But at least then he had friends, friends like Clark Triton - who now seemed to be a skilled torturer. His life was getting better and better…

He was slightly scared by Flora in her drunken state; she seemed to have no control over any limb of her body. That, or she had complete control and was acting exactly how she wanted to act. But that thought was not something that the Professor wanted to dwell on, especially seeing some of the things that she had been so willing to do. But no. He stopped his train of thought right there, she was influenced by alcohol that had most likely been forced upon her by Crow. It was not her fault that she –

"Damn it Hershel!" he cried. Then he covered his mouth. This was not how he wanted to act at all. This was not him. He did not slap people, he did not curse and he most certainly did not overreact over one little incident that Flora wouldn't remember in the morning! Why would he be thinking about it so hard? Maybe… just maybe was it because he liked it? And then the Professor slapped himself in the forehead. It was nothing more than a hug for Christ's sake! Though, the Professor thought, it was a rather passionate hug… before Flora had thrown up. Of course he didn't like it, of course he didn't! She was his daughter and that was all he had to say on the matter. That was why he had had to hand Flora over to Luke. Although he thought it was a bad idea… he couldn't even think to face Flora now. Though he would have to eventually.

He managed to finally turn his blaring thoughts off, and he climbed up the ladder and out of the cavern. Into a pleasant day in Misthallery. It was mid-afternoon and the air was warm. Nothing could be wrong on a day like this. The Professor smiled at a chirp of a nearby bird. He would go to Clarks; and he would ask Clark about the tortures and then, most importantly, he would wash.

It didn't take long to get to the mayors house, the streets were empty. Everyone was at home, but on such a nice day?

"Professor Layton, come in. Clark has wanted to see you" invited Doland. "He is in the parlour with his wife"

"Thank you, Doland" said the Professor as he walked through to the parlour. He opened the door, and saw a sight that brought back memories too recent. Clark and Brenda Triton were giggling together, with Clark occasionally administering a kiss to Brenda's cheek. Layton didn't really know what he was supposed to do, so he coughed as politely as he could. Clark looked up with no surprise or embarrassment.

"Welcome, Hershel. My my my, you look as if you need a wash" he chimed. "Come on, before we talk any more you must bathe. Doland, would you kindly fill a bathtub for our friend here?"

"Certainly sir"

It wasn't much longer before Hershel Layton was lowering himself into a bath. The water was lovely, it was just the right temperature and smelt of roses. This was bliss. Luke and Flora didn't know what they were missing out on, he thought dreamily. Of course he had baths on a regular basis. And it had only been a day or two, but in those few days he had stayed in the same clothes and been thrown up on. It was understandable that it was about time he had a bath. He put his hand to his face then and realised that he had the beginnings of a beard. He wondered if Clark would let him borrow something to shave with… And possibly let him borrow some clothes too… In his rush to leave he had left his bag with the Black Ravens.

"Hershel, I'm sorry to disturb you" said Clark, opening the door only a crack. The Professor immediately covered himself. "I just wanted to ask if you'll be needing new clothes?"

"Yes, yes I would, that would be very nice thank you Clark"

"It's no problem. If you don't have any other clothes I'm guessing you have nothing else either…?"

"You would be right"

"Then perhaps you would want to use this?" asked Clark, holding out a razor and a bottle of shaving cream. Clark was still looking in the other direction. "I'll just put it down here by the door, and Doland will bring you some clothes soon. Enjoy your bath"

"Thank you Clark" said Professor Layton; glad that Clark hadn't come into the room. He had had enough of awkward situations to last him a long while.

After a refreshing bath, and borrowing one of Clarks suits the Professor walked back into the parlour. Clark was sitting there, in a serious manor and Brenda had left. Clark laughed slightly when the Professor came in. "You look nothing like yourself, Hershel" he commented. It was true, the Professor did look very different, he wasn't even wearing his trademark top hat. Although he honoured Claire's memory the Professor did care somewhat for style and his top hat did not at all match the suit that Clark had so kindly lent him.

"Yes, well. Thank you for the suit, and the bath. You have been so hospitable"

"And where you have been has not been so hospitable?" Clark guessed. "Did you meet Luke?"

"All I can say is that he is fine"

"I will take your word on it" sighed Clark. "Do you know if he had anything to do with the Highyard arch incident?"

"The what?"

"The large building arch collapsed last night, and took with it five lives. We found a Black Raven scratched into the pavement not far from there. The worst was that we had just repaired it… We had strengthened it greatly; someone with very good sources to the building information must have done it. So of course other people on the council have suspected Luke" Clark said, and Professor looked down. He remembered Crow saying that Luke bumping himself on the table might have made the arch fall down – it was Crow saying that Luke had been involved. But he was not about to say that. And he strongly doubted that Luke would have found the designs for the arch - that was probably Crow's doing. As Crow was very good at finding things out before anyone else.

"Five… I didn't think they would…"

"What is it Hershel?"

"How did they get five people under the arch at the same time, and at exactly the right time to be precise, without being there themselves. People are never very willing to run head first into danger"

"That is a good point… but no one has any answers… We know it was them, and that's as much as we know. Now, I can guess you have something else on your mind"

"You would be right; while I was away, I did encounter some… rumours. Rumours about you to be precise. And I think that you have missed out a crucial part of your story. Why is the market boarded up?"

"I assure you that it was done on mutual terms, Hershel. We had an offer from a large company to start a proper shop of all things. A general store if you like, and it was going to be large. I paid all of the families living in the markets vicinity and let them leave in their own time. The store was all ready to be built, but the builders came, and the builders left. No one knows where they went. They simply disappeared, then rumours about our town being cursed came out and the company decided they did not want to build a general store here any more so they left. It wasn't long after that when the builders all turned up again with a serious case of amnesia. But the company had long gone, and the builders returned to London"

"And why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

"I didn't think it was that relevant. Unless you think that it was the Black Ravens who made the builders disappear and then return"

"I do not know… I did not hear this story from anyone on my investigation so far" then the Professor stopped talking, and Clark had nothing to say. "Why do you think Luke left?" he asked after some pause.

Clark looked mournful "He saw me… Hershel, please do not jump to conclusions but my son thought I was torturing a man. I wasn't. Of all the things of course I wasn't!"

"What were you doing?"

"Hershel… please question me no further about this subject… It is my greatest regret that the one thing I did for my son turned him against me. And please tell him as such. I know that you have met him, and I know that you have spoken with him. I love him, and all of this has been done for him"

"All of what, Clark?"

"It is true… I wanted to rid Misthallery of the street children – but not by killing them. I wanted them to leave, or become more reasonable. I put in place schools that they had to attend, but they bunked. I tried giving their families money, but they would spend it all on something useless. They were so horrible to Luke you see, he would come home crying some nights. But he wouldn't let him help him, he would bare it. Then one night it was too bad, so I called that man to my home to talk to him about his child/children. But he swore, and shouted and was so unkind about Luke. Then he was also unkind about his own children, and I just… Hershel. Please… don't judge me by that alone. I know that it was wrong, and bad. And afterwards the guilt was unbearable – I went back into the cellar to help him. I hadn't hurt him enough for him to die so I went back to help him recover. But he was already dead. It was an overdose of his own doing, but maybe if I hadn't hurt him so much… then he would have survived…" Clark looked as though he was about to cry, but he didn't. And the Professor was rather glad about that as he wasn't at all sure how to deal with crying.

Then the Professor changed the subject, and they were talking about something different. But something unimportant, they were talking of their university days. The Professor was sure that there was a third party to this puzzle, but he didn't have the slightest clue as to who it was. All of the other people who had been found in the Tritons family trash… and the Professor was sure that it wasn't a Triton doing it.

**More mystery! Yay! Who is this mysterious third person? Could it have something to do with the mysterious anonymous person in the author's note of the first few chapters? Only time will tell! Or maybe there's no third person at all… what if it is Clark? And next chapter he will kill Professor Layton and it will be entirely up to Flora, Luke and Crow to solve the mystery! Though I can pretty much guarantee that won't happen. **

**And what of this secret that Crow dared Luke to tell the Professor? Oooh… Will the Professor really kill Luke? And will Flora get a hangover tomorrow? Yes and yes. :P Please review!**

**Oh yeah, and apparently there are two people reading this from New Zealand. I'm guessing one of them is me… I don't really know how the stats thing works… But anyhoo, if there is someone right now reading this from New Zealand I just want to say… YOU ROCK! That is all. You are the weakest link. Goodbye.**


	10. Chapter 10: A hangover and a lie

The Professor spent the evening, and then the night with the Tritons. He made a trip to the cellar, and found nothing unusual. He looked around Luke's room, to find it no different to the last time he had seen it. Beyond that the only reason he was there was because he needed a place to stay, and because he enjoyed Clark and Brenda's company. He could tell how much stress they'd been under, but they still laughed with old memories and new jokes.

He was sad to leave, but he remembered the dismembered bodies and couldn't look Clark in the eye to say goodbye. But he felt himself giving a critical eye to Brenda, did she show any signs of physical abuse? As far as the Professor could tell, she looked completely fine. In fact she looked far too happy. But the Professor only made a quick note of this before leaving – he didn't think it was too important.

The Professor had his original clothes, and hat, back - all clean pressed and ready to wear.

Back to the cavern, he supposed. He would collect Flora and they would continue their investigation, maybe Luke would come with now that he wasn't going to go and see Clark? He remembered Flora. Oh. He wished that he hadn't brought that memory back. It was nothing, after all, and he knew that she wouldn't remember it. Although the Professor himself had never drunken much some of his high school friends had, and he remembered too clearly the embarrassing consequences the next day.

It wasn't long till he was back to the blocked up market, and Nabby was there pointing to the hole he could enter through.

"You're Professor Layton? The one who slapped Crow?" he asked.

"I am Professor Layton"

"And Crow didn't hit back? I don't know what it is about you mister, but you're a lucky guy"

The Professor chuckled, but not out loud, at the command that Crow held over the Black Ravens. Was he really that good of a fighter? He certainly didn't look like it.

"Nabby?" asked the Professor just as he was about to go down the hole "Are you always here?"

"No, just when someone who needs to enter turns up" said Nabby, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"But how do you know that you need to be here?"

"Crow'll tell me. But I wish you'd stop going back and forwards so much, I'll be having a decent time and then you need escorting down here"

"Haha. I'm sure I can find my own way by now"

"And I'm sure you can't. Well, so long man that hit Crow and didn't get hit back" called Nabby, in possibly the most cheerful voice anyone had ever heard him use. The Professor was suddenly put in a much worse mood… Was that going to be his new name?

He found Crow, Luke and Flora all still asleep. He didn't mind so much that Luke and Flora were in the same bed. At least they were both still fully clothed, in the past day the Professor had become much more accepting. If he had found them like this only a week earlier he would have had a fit.

"Morning Professor" said Crow, his mask had come off during the night. But the moment he had opened his eyes he pulled it back on again.

"Must you wear that, right now?" asked Luke who had just woken up.

"You know the rules, all identities must be kept secret"

"Except mine" said Luke indignantly.

"And you know bloody well why, come on. We should get out of here before the masses come in"

Luke woke Flora up, and she groaned. "Eurgh, do I have to?"

"Come on Flora, I know it's not nice but soon we'll have you in a quiet place with a cold drink" tempted Luke. Flora did agree that it sounded nice so she forced herself up and … it's the Professor. She had a quick flash of a memory, and she blushed brighter than a beetroot. The Professor turned his head quickly, then too. But no, he must be a gentleman. So he pretended not to remember and offered to help a dizzy, headachey and very embarrassed Flora to wherever Crow and Luke were leading them.

"Come on Luke, tell him now! Go on!" said Crow when the Professor was out of earshot.

"I will, okay! Just not right now. And anyway, if I did tell him now then it would be obvious I was lying"

"I bet he wouldn't know the first thing about any of it"

"Cro-ow… Please don't make me, he will kill me! He slapped you, and that was for a kiss that she clearly planted on your lips AND she was drunk!"

"Oooh, is someone jealous?" teased Crow.

"Shut up!" said Luke, and pushed Crow hard enough to make him stagger.

"You're definitely getting stronger, maybe you'd finally like to start learning to fight?" asked Crow, changing the subject.

"You know as well as I do that I would fail miserably"

"You don't know until you try… Get the Professor to teach you. I bet he knows a thing or two"

"Excuse me, but what are you two boys talking about?" asked the Professor, who had finally caught up to them.

"You should teach Luke to fight" said Crow, instantly. Luke glared daggers at him.

"I think you'd do a better job than me, Crow. I heard from Nabby that you're quite the little fighter" The Professor was trying hard to be pleasant enough to Crow, he felt bad about slapping him and worse that Nabby had actually called him the man that slapped Crow.

"Oh I wouldn't say that…" mumbled Crow.

"Well I would. I'd love to see you fight" said Luke. "But not… in the way that sounded…. You two should have a fight" suggested Luke.

"Now, my boy, that's not a very gentlemanly idea" said the Professor.

"Well, Professor you haven't been exactly gentlemanly" accused Crow. Crow looked at Flora and then back to the Professor. They had stopped just outside the doors. The Professor turned red then, and Luke was curious as to what exactly was going on. "I have things to take care of, walk straight through to the back room. No one is in there, have a nice day. When you're ready to leave, just leave. But you can stay in there for the time being. We shan't be needing it for a while. If you need anything… well… Luke can help with that"

Then Crow disappeared to do whatever he needed to do. There was still a mattress in the back room, and now there were even blankets folded at the bottom of it.

"Well would you look at that, Crow is actually starting to think you'll be staying" mumbled Luke. He then set the bed up and helped Flora down onto it. She lay there for a while in silence before drifting off to sleep.

"Professor" started Luke. "I have something that I need to tell you, and you won't like it one bit"

"What is it Luke, my boy?" asked the Professor. He truly felt prepared for anything that Luke was going to force him to face.

Luke walked over to the Professor who was still standing. He stood next to him for a while watching Flora breathe.

"Professor…. I think…I think…" then Luke turned to the Professor and whispered. Luke then yelped, and ran from the room.

The Professor stared at Flora, he was lost. Lost in the few words that Luke had uttered. No. It wasn't possible? Was it…? The Professor hated to admit the fact that he didn't even know.

Those words, just a few words and everything was changed. The Professor had to leave Misthallery now, and forever… he was certain of it. He couldn't stay here. But he did promise… why was life so confusing? Was it Crow, though? If it was that would make everything easier, he could hate Crow without thinking about it too hard. But what if it was Luke…? He loved Luke like his own son… Surely? Luke wouldn't have betrayed his trust like that… But what of Flora? Poor, sweet innocent Flora… Bringing her here was a mistake, such a mistake… What could he do?

"_I think you're going to be a grand-dad"_-What i dislike about you:  
-First Impression:  
-How close we are out of 10:  
-Do I trust you:  
-Do i dare you to put this as your status:


	11. Chapter 11: Another few fights

**Just a random fact… On my Professor Layton game Nabby's name is Roddy and I always thought it was Nabby… Come to think of it I have absolutely no idea where I found out that on the other version his name was Nabby. Anyhoo, thanks for the reviews! I'm at home today sick so I'll hopefully be writing a lot… I have discovered something… I have no life! But that's okay, because I like writing.**

Luke ran out of the back room he burst into a group of people. They were in a circle. And in the middle of the circle was Badger.

"Ready?" asked Crow, from somewhere in the surrounding circle.

"Ready" confirmed Badger.

"Ready" stumbled Luke – what was going on?

"3-2-1- Go!" said Crow. Everyone in the circle around them started cheering. What was going on? But Luke realised pretty quickly when Badger ran at him fists at the ready. Luke dodged easily enough, he was not made for fighting but he could dodge with ease. He thanked his time with the Professor for that, there had been more than enough things flying at him - trying to knock him out.

Luke knew that Badger was no fighter, Badger was a runner. He could run up buildings if he had to, but when it came to actually fighting Badger usually ran for it. Luke used this to his advantage by running at Badger. Although Badger saw a scrawny little brat who he could probably pummel into the ground his nature was to run from the fight. He stood, uncertain of what to do for a moment or two but then Luke was upon him. And for such a small person, his fists went mighty deep into Badgers stomach. Luke stood back then, panting. Marilyn ran up to Badger and gave him something to ease the pain. Crow walked into the circle and slapped Luke on the back "You're better than you thought" he said. But Crow had other things to do, as did everyone else. So the circle dispersed leaving Luke standing alone in the middle of the room.

What have I done… What have I done…? He wondered. The Professor know thought Flora was pregnant, and he had just proved himself worthy of fighting lessons. He didn't want to learn to fight. He didn't want the Professor to think that Flora was pregnant. Oh god. Oh god. That was a stupid bet. But the Professor did believe him… it was about time that he got that money off Crow. At least some good would have come from all this then.

"Are you sure he believed you?" asked Crow, for the fiftieth time.

"Yes" insisted Luke, for the fifty-first time. "Come ask him then!" said Luke, but he didn't really expect Crow to agree.

The two boys walked in silence, this was not going to be pretty for either of them. Crow pushed aside the curtain and walked in. Luke followed.

The Professor was standing in the same place watching over Flora. Maybe if he didn't take his eye off her it would all be undone.

"Professor…" started Crow, but trailed off when the Professor spun around. His face was calm, with a crease in his brow that showed worry - but nothing more. He tipped his hat over his eyes then, and the boys could no longer see what expression he was hiding.

"What happened?" asked the Professor. Crow carefully slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out the crumpled 10 (my computer doesn't have a pound sign!) pounds. He passed it silently to Luke, who took it just as sneakily and put it in his pocket.

"Well, Professor, it was like this…" started Crow, he had the intention of telling the Professor that it had been a joke. But the Professor wasn't going to let him – the Professor stood up then. Sending his hat only a few inches into the air before falling back onto his head. It gave Crow a clear idea of what the Professor was feeling - his eyes had slanted.

"Wait, Professor!" said Luke, but the Professor was long gone. All he could think of was Crow… Crow and Flora… Poor Flora… He tried to hit Crow. I say tried, because he failed. Crow ducked with lightning fast reactions. Luke cowered in the corner, although he had said that he wanted to watch them fight – he didn't want to when it was in real anger.

The Professor went for Crows scarf, hoping to strangle him. But Crow jumped, and jumped higher than the Professor thought was possible. But he made it to the Professors hat, which he expertly knocked off. But the Professor was so far into his anger he didn't even care… Luke shivered; he didn't like this new Professor one bit.

Crow realised he was going to have to employ a new strategy, and so he just fought. He forced himself to put aside the fact that this was the Professor, a usually calm an kind gentleman because right in that moment he was sure the Professor would have killed him. Crow hit, kicked and bit. The majority of his punches, kicks and bites landed whereas the Professor was finding it increasingly difficult to even touch Crow.

After all, the Professor was a fencer not a street fighter.

**Nice and short for a change! But don't worry there'll be more very shortly! **


	12. Chapter 12: And she's pregnant

"Are you okay, Professor?" asked Crow. The Professor was panting and had his arm against the wall. He was bracing himself. Crow didn't look affected at all, but his hair was sticking up at a funny angle instead of hanging over his eye. He spent a few moments trying to get it to stay down – which didn't work.

"What did I just do… what did I just do…?" murmured the Professor.

"Crow, Luke! Wren wants you, come out here" called Marilyn, she had just pulled aside the curtain and was peering through at them. She cast a critical eye at the Professor, and was about to assess him for damage before Crow waved his hand at her. She shook her head slightly and went back through the curtain.

Crow and Luke left the Professor, who was still murmuring to himself, to go and find Wren. It wasn't too hard. She was just outside of the curtain.

"I have something to tell you two" she started. Both of the boys looked at her and didn't say a word. They knew this was going to be important. "I'm pregnant" and they were right.

Luke nearly died on the spot and Crow nearly fainted. It was like this, before Wren and Luke it had been Crow and Wren. And they guessed that she didn't know which one of them was going to be the father. The worse thing was that one of them was going to be a father. Wren didn't look as hopeful as an expectant mother usually did, so they boys didn't feel too guilty when they let their mouths fall open and tried to steady themselves on each other.

"I'm going to tell the Professor" said Luke immediately. Wren shrugged and said something to Crow. His thoughts were going around in his head he didn't know what to do. But he did think that if he told the Professor then the Professor would stop thinking that Flora was pregnant.

He walked in and found the Professor sitting next to Flora who was still sleeping.

"Ah, Luke, my boy" he said, he seemed to have recovered.

"I want to explain what I meant… You see, Flora isn't pregnant" said Luke. Keeping himself close to the exit in case the need should arise. The Professor felt a glow of hope hearing that, but then… what had Luke meant by that… "Professor, you've always been like a father to me. And… it's Wren, you see"

"What? My boy, what do you mean?"

"Wren is pregnant, and-"

"Luke! That is bad! Very bad, unless of course you're married without my knowledge!"

"But, listen! I might not be the father. But if I am, would you be the grandfather?"

"Luke, listen to yourself! This child will be born a bastard, don't you care?" accused the Professor. Luke could only laugh when the Professor swore. The Professor looked at him even more accusingly.

"Sorry, Professor…" he mumbled.

Then the Professor started up a long lecture about the consequences of sex before marriage, and even worse – child birth. Luke listened without interest, nodding in the right places and feigning a permanent guilty expression.

After his lecture the Professor said, rather guiltily, that he would be very glad to be the child's grandfather. Although he also added that he was very disappointed in Luke.

"Can you stop what's going on here yet, Professor?" asked Luke, to stop the Professor from starting up another lecture.

"Ah yes" said the Professor, he had completely forgotten about that… "When Flora wakes up I will be leaving. Do you want to come?"

"I should probably stay here, for Wren" muttered Luke. He couldn't face spending long amounts of time with the Professor – not now. Then Luke pinched Flora to wake her up and left.

"Morning Professor" said Flora. She was feeling much better now, but she was kind of hungry. "I haven't eaten in ages" she said. And the Professor laughed.

"Haha, come along. We'll go to Paddy's" Then they left. Crow watched the Professor leave with a stormy expression. He calls himself a gentleman, but he doesn't even apologise for attacking me when I was going to tell him the truth!

**A bit of rivalry there… And Wren's pregnant! Will it be Crow's or Luke's? Which do you reckon? I keep getting sidetracked with random bits and pieces… Review and let me know if you'd rather I put random things like ^ that in, or more mystery. **


	13. Chapter 13: A younger brother

**Eeep! Sorry about chapter 10 and that weird bit at the bottom. I think I just got rid of it… but it doesn't come up when I read it on Microsoft it only shows when I read it online. **

Paddy's was just as delicious as usual and Flora enjoyed it heartily. The Professor could almost forget about the terrible things that were going on in the "underworld" as it were.

"Professor, where do you think we'll be going next?" asked Flora, after she had consumed at least half of a roast chicken.

"I think that there may be more to this than meets the eye. I can only assume for now but I think that there is someone else involved"

"Who do you think it is?"

"I don't know, Flora… I truly don't know. But I think we will be going back to London shortly"

"What, why is that Professor? We can't leave them!" Flora sounded outraged.

"I mean so that we can visit some one who may give us a lead"

"Oh…" said Flora who felt a bit embarrassed. Just sitting with the Professor made her flush scarlet - let alone making a scene in public about something petty.

"Flora… about last night" started the Professor. He could not leave this issue unaddressed any longer. But Flora did not try to make the conversation any easier by predicting what he was about to say, instead she stiffened in her chair and latched her hands around her warm mug of cocoa.

"What was it like for you?" asked the Professor, with his usual slight smile. Flora felt dizzy just thinking about it…

"Well… I don't really remember to be honest Professor" she said.

"I remember the night very clearly, Flora. And I think you need to think about your actions and why you did them"

"But I don't remember my actions, so I can't really think on them" she whined, the Professor was being unreasonable – it was true that she could barely remember anything.

"I mean, what prompted you to accept the drink in the first place. Surely you remember that much?"

"Yes, I did drink…"

"Why?" asked the Professor, and he actually sounded genuinely curious.

"I didn't want to seem weak in front of the others" she mumbled.

"And would you ever do it again?"

"Lord no!" she cried with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. It was getting dark, late and cold. And she knew that she was either going to be sleeping on the streets or at a murderers house.

**A/N STOP THE PRESS! Sorry for this temporary interruption to the story but I have important news. IT'S SNOWING! K thanx bai.**

The Professor seemed satisfied and they left together. It was still a little awkward for both of them and they walked mostly in silence. They started down a small side street that Layton knew was a short cut to the hotel. What they didn't expect was a young boy to be on the side of the street crying.

Flora ran up to him straight away, ignoring the Professors warnings. The boy sat up as Flora's worried head bobbed over him. "What's the matter?" she asked.

The boy stumbled a few steps backwards muttering something about being about to die. The Professor took a leap of faith and pulled the Black Raven badges out of his pocket. "We're friends" he said, as he showed them to the boy. The boy relaxed immediately.

"You work for Crow then?" he asked.

"Friends of Crow more like…" corrected the Professor.

"Good enough. Will you tell him that his little brother would like to be remembered for once?"

"Are you Crow's brother?" asked Flora, in some shock. And now that she thought about it they did look very similar.

"I am. And he doesn't give a damn about me, does he?"

"He never mentioned you…" considered the Professor.

"Well, let me give you a heads up. But after one little thing… did he tell you what these badges do?"

"No" muttered Flora, but of course she didn't know, she didn't even know that the Professor had the badges.

"Well if you can work it out I'll tell you something mighty useful"

The Professor looked at the two badges, they just looked like two hunks of shaped metal to him. Then Flora looked at them, and she turned them upside down.

"I.C.E.E.A.T" she read out. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I believe it's a message… I have seen ICE used before somewhere… Take a guess as to what you think it might mean"

"Ice eat? Eat ice?" guessed Flora blindly. It was too late for puzzles in her opinion!

"Flora! No, it means In case of emergency. So, I would hazard a guess that in case of emergency you should eat the badge. Am I right?" the Professor asked the young boy who was still sitting in front of him.

"You certainly are" said the boy, then the boy took the badge off of the Professor and put it in his mouth. "For telling you what I'm about to tell you would get me killed slower than this. Don't feel sorry. I guess you've worked out there's someone trying to destroy Misthallery who's neither the Black Ravens nor the Mayor. They planted some rumours, they persuaded Clark to build a general store… And you see – both the Mayor and Crow know about him. But unless you're willing to torture them they'll never tell you. They've both been bribed. Talk to Wren - she's the closest to Crow you'll get and Brenda. That's all I know, but I can guarantee that this person/company whatever it is watching us right now. Crow and the Mayor have been bribed to fight against each other but neither of them knows that. I tried to tell Crow and he kicked me out – don't even mention it to him. Just say you met me, and I miss him…"

"How do you know all this?" asked the Professor.

"There's more people than you out there who love solving a good puzzle. All I can do now it put what I've been trying to achieve on your shoulders, good luck Mr Layton"

"How do you know my name?' asked the Professor – he had so many questions for this young boy.

"I've been watching you, Mr Layton. And I've done more than you realise… don't trust the mayor, don't trust Crow. They're both being influenced by something more powerful. Just… just…"

"Just what, my boy?" asked the Professor again – he was getting desperate.

"Tell Crow I'm sorry, okay? He'll know what I mean"

"Why don't you tell him yourself?"

"In case of emergency, eat. It's poisoned metal, Professor. In case you get captured by the enemy, so you won't get tortured…"

"Spit it out!" commanded the Professor. The boy did so, weakly, and then coughed a bit.

The boy stared at the Professor for a long time before,

"Oh my god, Professor! He's dead" cried Flora. The Professor knew that, and Flora started sobbing. So he hugged her gently.

"Come along, Flora. It's about time we got some sleep"

The Professor gently moved his hands across the boy's eyes, and they shut quietly. He lay there, looking almost asleep, so peaceful and innocent. But only in death. The Professor watched him for a few moments, and for every death there is new life… he thought quietly. He was thinking, of course, about Luke's possible baby. Would he ever be able to look Luke in the face again? He hoped that it would be Crow's, he hoped and prayed for it to be Crows. Though he knew how unlikely that would be. Life seemed to want to go wrong in every way possible for him at the moment.

**More mysterious-ness! Who is this strange dead boy who claimed to be Crows younger brother? And why does he know so much? And who is this person/company that wants to destroy Misthallery? But most importantly… is the baby going to be Luke's or Crow's? **

**Some of these questions will be revealed next chapter… but which ones…?**


	14. Chapter 14: Just a little baby

Wren had moved into the back room. Originally all of the Black Ravens had stayed in the Auction room, but now with one of them being pregnant… Things got a little hectic. The others weren't exactly nice to Wren about it, and they definitely weren't being supportive. But there was a chance it was Crows, and they were all in both awe and fear of Crow, so no one confronted Wren. They just whispered about her. Luke tried telling her not to listen to them, but Wren couldn't help it – these were people she had considered friends - and she started crying.

Crow decided it would be better for her to stay in the back room. As it was generally only the injured - and Crow - that went to the back room more rumours were made up from this about Wren.

"I didn't ask to be pregnant" sobbed Wren, for the fifth time in a row.

"I know," comforted Luke.

Luke was trying his hardest to be supportive, after all it wasn't him that was going to have to go through labour, but he wasn't finding it that easy. Crow had done a much better job while he'd still been in the back room, but Crow had gone now to order around the Black Ravens and get them back to work. He would probably be called on by Crow any second now to go and check on the villagers who were in the main cavern. And though Luke tried to pretend to be supportive, he really just wanted Crow to come and tell him to go around his jobs. But Crow didn't, and Luke was left there trying to comfort Wren.

He tried not to think about it too hard. It was possible he was going to become a dad. And truth be told he really didn't like that idea one bit. He hoped and prayed that it was going to Crows – but then… How would they tell? What if the baby didn't look like either of them? Then what? What if it was to a different guy completely?

"Luke? Luke are you okay?" asked Wren, she had noticed Luke suddenly turn a ghostly white.

"Not really…" he mumbled.

"You should have gone with the Professor. You make a better gentleman – you really do"

"But what about you, and… well.." he gestured awkwardly to her belly. Now that he knew she was pregnant it did cross his mind that she looked pregnant as well. He wondered how long she'd known, or suspected at least… and most importantly – when was it due?

"I promise I'll call for you if you want to be there that much" laughed Wren, her cheeks were still tear stained, and it made her look wistfully happy.

"Really? Oh thank you"

"Go now, Luke. A gentleman never keeps a man, or woman, waiting" cheered Wren. It seemed to Luke that all of the Black Ravens were experts at copying the Professors voice, all except him. But he wasn't really a Black Raven. He was just a friend of the Black Ravens, and he could help them. But when it came down to it they just weren't the same as he was.

He ducked under the curtain and fell straight into Crow who was about to duck in as well. Both boys stood up straight rubbing their heads. "Ow" said Crow, expecting an explanation from Luke.

"Sorry, long story. Ask Wren, I'm going to go and find the Professor"

"He'll be at the hotel by now, Luke, and… you might want to change into something more formal" Crow hadn't even finished before Luke took off again. Dodging in between various activities and people Luke sprinted to the ladder.

Crow shook his head, "He'll get himself killed by his own dad…" he muttered; before walking under the curtain.

Luke sprinted, and then jogged, and then sprinted again. Since his time with the Black Ravens his fitness had definitely improved. At the bottom of the ladder was a store room. Luke ducked into it, it was his own private storeroom that Crow had given him when he'd first found him. Luke had spent a few weeks in here while Crow persuaded the Black Ravens he had killed the mayor's son himself. When Luke turned up the story was that he had ran from London, of course Wren knew the truth. She was too smart not to have picked it up, and they were fairly sure most of the Black Ravens had suspicions at least. But apart from that… it was a secret that he was the mayor's son.

In the store room were Lukes original clothes. His blue sweater, blue cap, braces and satchel. He pulled them on, finding them a little tight and too short. But they'd do for now. That was when he first realised it, he'd grown. He had actually grown. He hadn't noticed… he was taller than Wren but he'd never thought much of that. Until now, he finally realised. He was tall. Well… not really tall, but kind of tall. It was definitely an improvement, and he smiled. A real true smile. He was happy. Just because he'd grown.

Then he started running again.

"Luke, my boy, what on earth are you doing here?" asked the Professor. Flora was in bed in the next room asleep, the Professor had been sipping a classic brew of tea when he'd heard frantic knocking on the door.

"Wren told me to come. I hope you don't mind" he said quickly and in a rush of breath. He was puffed after running all the way there…

"Not at all" the Professor said with a smile. He was glad to have Luke back, especially because he actually looked like Luke now. But he didn't really want to mention it in case Luke didn't like it…

"Wren said I made a better gentleman than a Black Raven" Luke muttered - he wanted the Professor to hear but he didn't want to say it.

"And I would have to agree with her, my boy" said the Professor. Luke couldn't help but smirk a little, whenever the Professor said "my boy" Luke was reminded of Crow, and Wren and their perfect imitations of his voice.

"I can't be a proper gentleman, Professor! Not any more… I mean.. I've…"

"Yes Luke, I know. But you can still take it back, and try and improve the situation"

"Really, Professor?" his eyes lit up, his mentor was giving him a second chance.

"And the first thing you have to do is remember - a gentleman would never leave a woman in need"

"Professor! I'm sorry! She said I could… she said she'd be fine…" he petered out, not really sure what else he could say. They stood facing each other for a while.

"Good night Luke. You have things you need to take care of, you may come with Flora and I, but don't run away from your mistakes. Especially not when you've ruined someone's childhood and indeed life – from it" then the Professor turned the lights out and slipped into his bed. Luke lay on his bed, the spare one, and thought about what the Professor had said. He didn't run away – he thought grouchily. I just came because I thought the Professor would want to see me. I thought he would have wanted me to help him… I thought he would have accepted me wanting to become a gentleman again…

It was late, dark and cold. Not that Wren could tell because she was as toasty as toast in a toaster. She was in the back room still on the mattress that had been used by far too many different people. She had a large woollen blanket draped over her, and next to her was Crow. Usually they all slept in the auction room, but not tonight.

Crow hadn't wanted to leave Wren alone all night and Wren wasn't about to object. She herself felt cold, but there was a lot of heat radiating from Crows back and it was more than enough to keep her warm. She was staring at the roof, not that she could see it. It was pitch black in there.

She was about to close her eyes when she felt something move, slowly and indistinctly at first and she thought she'd imagined it. But then she felt it again.

"Crow" she called softly, not wanting to wake anyone in the auction room. "Crow!" she said a little louder. Crow sat up straight away.

"What? What's the matter?" he said, worry in his voice. Wren took his hand and gently placed it on her belly. Crow felt the smallest little kick. It was the strangest sensation, moving from the inside out.

"Woah! That is so cool!" said Crow, suddenly feeling better about this whole – might be becoming a dad thing. Wren smiled in the darkness, and could tell that Crow was smiling too.

"We should probably tell Luke, this is quite an important thing… I think" said Crow, uncertainly. Wren nodded, not realising he couldn't see her. They stood up in the dark together and left through one of the back exits.

**I've come up with an idea. Because I can't decide whether it's going to be Crow's or Luke's baby… I'm going to flip a coin. Should Luke be heads or tails? **

**Next chapter is either going to be mystery, something to do with Wren, Clark and the baby or I'm going to make some random conversation between a few of the Black Ravens… Depends how I feel! It's still snowy btw… yay!**


	15. Chapter 15: Friends or family

**So I asked my friend whether Luke should be heads or tails, and she said that he should be tails. So Luke's going to be tails, and Crow's going to be heads. I'm going to do best of three… Ready? **

**The first one was… Heads**

**The second one was... Tails**

**And the third one… _s. I now know whose the baby's going to be! But you won't find out until later. Spoilers!**

Crow and Wren were moving quickly together now. They were going to the hotel. Crow, as usual was the organised one, and had brought with a change of clothes for Luke that might fit him better than the ones Crow knew he was wearing. Unlike Luke, Crow had noticed how tall Luke was getting.

Wren was out of breath, although they had only been walking she did have another smaller person to look after. Crow only had himself. They slowed, and kept walking together.

"I don't think Luke's ready to be a dad" said Crow. He felt some… I suppose you'd call it jealously towards Luke. Crow had prepared himself, and he felt like he was ready. Or ready to some extent – but how much more could he prepare himself without the worry that any day soon he would find out that it wasn't his. And then he would have to break down everything he had built up… and he wouldn't be a dad anymore. He'd just be Crow – leader of the Black Ravens – again.

"I don't think I'm ready to be called mum…" muttered Wren. Crow nodded in agreement to that. She had a point. No matter how much both Luke and him stressed over becoming dads it would be worse for Wren no matter what way you put it.

Neither of them said anything else as they had found the hotel. Crow took a small pebble and threw it against each window. There were no tourists in town, so all rooms would be empty spare for Luke's. Oh… and Flora's…

Flora opened the window to look down on them. "What're you throwing stones at my window for!" she said defensively.

"Go back to sleep, Flora!" called back Crow. But Flora didn't, she ran to her cupboard and tried to get changed as quickly as possible. She knew that something exciting was happening and she wanted to be part of it. She had just pulled her dress on and was fixing her hair in place when she looked out the window again. No one was there anymore… it was all very well and good knowing that you always had a friend in the Professor, but just for once Flora wanted an actual friend. She sunk down against the wall and put her head in her hands. Then she started crying uncontrollably.

She was sitting like this just under the window when three nervous looking children burst into her room.

"Is it okay if we use this room?" asked Wren politely. Flora looked up, and her eyes shone with fresh tears. They had come up to her room! She clasped her hands together and smiled at them "Of course" she said. But they were already clustered around the chairs and table.

Wren was sitting on one of the chairs and Crow was brewing her some tea. Luke was talking quietly with Wren and they kept exchanging smiles as Luke – Flora stopped and stared – what on earth was Luke doing? He seemed to be moving his hands all over her; Flora didn't look away this time. She did still love Luke, and she was not about to let him do that, whatever it may be, to some common street child! Her anger was blazing and she stood as tall as she could and looked at them all.

"What are you doing?' she commanded, but her voice cracked half way through and it didn't make her seem powerful at all. She felt herself beginning to cry again. No, she thought, I'm not going to cry – I won't!

Both Luke and Wren looked at her like she was the biggest idiot in the world. Crow, who had been watching more from Flora's perspective, understood what she was so upset about.

"Flora" Crow started quietly "Don't make so much noise; we don't want to wake the Professor"

"He should be woken immediately! I thought you were… well… gentlemanly-" Crow, Wren and Luke all started laughing then. "But if you're going to let that happen well… well…" she huffed. Crow held a finger to her lips.

"Flora, Luke is not feeling Wren up. Wren is pregnant, and it may be Luke's baby. We came here because tonight for the first time the baby kicked, and we thought Luke would want to know" Crow said this as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

"May be..?"echoed Flora.

"If it's not Luke's, then it's Crow's" said Wren, she was actually smiling. Both Crow and Luke were staring at her smile, she was actually starting to enjoy the idea of becoming a mum. Just like Crow was beginning to enjoy the idea of becoming a possible dad. And even Luke couldn't help but start laughing when the baby kicked again at exactly that moment.

Flora stared at them like they were all mad. Wren was pregnant? How old was she? Did the Professor know? It might be Luke's… or Crow's… Wait, that means… Flora was no idiot, she knew how babys were made. But she couldn't think of a way to put it nicely, so she said nothing at all. The children stared at her for a moment or two longer, before turning around and muttering quietly amongst themselves.

The two people who Flora thought she loved… had… there was no nice way to put it. What a stupid moment to remember Crow's and her kiss, but remember it she did. Was that what Crow was trying to get from her too? In fact, what about Luke? Flora thought over everything that had happened and decided that Luke hadn't tried to… she shook her head again. It was improper of a lady to think about such things.

Luke looked up at her with a concerned expression. Flora still hadn't stopped shaking her head.

"Maybe you should go to sleep now, Flora" he suggested. She blinked hard and then shook her head again.

"I mean, yes I will. But… what about you?"

"I'm in the Professors room. Can Crow and Wren stay here tonight?"

"I suppose so.." she said unsurely. Wren and Crow smiled up at her. Crow took her arm and said gently "Thank you". It made Flora's heart flutter, and she felt like a brick had been dropped on her when he let go and set the sofas up into a fit state for sleeping on.

Luke left the room after a quick kiss on the cheek to Wren. Flora noted with a smile how she turned her head when he tried to kiss her on the lips. As soon as Luke had left Flora felt the tension in the room slip away. She hadn't even noticed, but this couldn't have been easy on Crow and Luke.

Flora climbed into bed, without remembering to get changed. But she didn't fall asleep. She was watching Crow. As if on purpose Crow was sleeping on the sofa that Flora had a perfect view of from her bed. He had one loose blanket and was resting his head on the arm of the sofa. His feet and ankles were hanging awkwardly over the opposite arm. He had taken the shorter sofa, so that Wren could sleep comfortably stretched out with more than one blanket and a pillow.

Flora watched with interest as his arm lay across the side of his face that his hair normally covered. Why did he always cover it up? Was there something wrong with his face? He wasn't wearing his hat, but he was still wearing his scarf. Flora worried for a moment that he might choke in it. But she was just being overly protective and slightly ridiculous.

Suddenly his eye flashed open and his hand moved. He was staring right back at her. She didn't know what to do, scared because of the anger in his eyes. And there were two eyes for a change. But then he smiled at her, a real proper good-natured smile. And Flora smiled back, as his arm fell back across his face and he fell asleep again.

**More random fluff stuff. But hey, it's cute right? Thanks to all the reviews so far! You know who you are, and how awesome you are. If anyone wants to join this secret awesome club, just review. It's an automatic membership! **

**Also, what do you think of the picture cover thingy…? **


	16. Chapter 16: A lead at last

Luke was woken up by a stretch of light falling across his face. He had been dreaming about Wren's baby, he had dreamt that the baby looked like the Professor. He had known instinctively, like you do in dreams, that it was the Professors baby. Both Crow and Luke got angry at Wren for that but then the Professor came over to them when they were about to try and beat her up, he was laughing. Then he said calmly "Wake up my boy".

Luke couldn't look at the Professor with a straight face then. The Professor was ready to leave and even had some breakfast for the three of them on the table.

"Good morning Luke. I'll just go and wake up Flora" he started. Luke spluttered to life then. He jumped out of bed and slipped over more than once. He stopped the Professor on the way to the door and said hurriedly "Could I?"

The Professors face stayed its normal calm, smiling state. But you could see a question forming under his hat. "Of course my boy, but remember, a gentleman-"

"Never rushes a lady, I know Professor" he interrupted as he disappeared into the corridor.

"Flora, Crow, Wren! Wake up all of you. Come on!" Luke insisted. None of them wanted to get up. They were all perfectly content in the places they were and were not at all interested in getting up. "The Professors coming!" Luke hissed. This got some reaction out of Crow and Wren at least. They both jumped up. That was when they saw the sun streaming through the window.

"Wow" said Wren. Keep in mind that they had been living in a cavern under the ground for quite some time, and had only left said cavern at night time when there was no sun. "How did we survive with out this for so long?" asked Wren, rhetorically.

"Because it means death for us. And you know it, we're too easy to see. We shouldn't have stayed all night…" Crow muttered.

"You can stay here if you need to" suggested Flora. Crow thanked her heartily, Wren was too busy soaking up the sun.

The door creaked open then, and Crow was the first to notice. He dived under Flora's bed as though death himself had walked through the door. But it was only the Professor.

"Good morning all of you" he said, with absolutely no surprise in his voice. "Come along now, whenever you're ready – you too Wren – I suspect you're quite hungry" he said. The idea of breakfast did sound nice. She hadn't exactly been eating well while under ground.

The Professor let the children go through the door first before turning towards the bed that Crow was still under. "Your little brother found me the other day. And he wanted me to tell you that he was sorry – very sorry for whatever it was that he did. And, I thought you might want to know that he killed himself too" said the Professor. Then he walked out and closed the door behind him.

Crow was in shock.

They were sitting around the small coffee table drinking tea and eating scones. No one was really talking. Wren was trying her hardest not to be greedy, but only Flora and the Professor were succeeding in that.

"Wren, do you think that it is at all possible for Crow to have someone telling him what to do?" asked the Professor at some point after they had polished off the food that had previously been on the table.

"I suppose so" she said, immediately feeling awkward.

Flora stood up then, "Professor!" she cried "Wren's pregnant! I mean, Luke.. and her… um…" then she sat down again. Instantly regretting talking. Even the Professor laughed at her.

"I know, dear" he chuckled. Flora cringed. But she sat fast and resisted the temptation to run away.

"Professor" started Wren quietly "I do suppose that… well, I have something that you might want to know. I saw him once go down into a small cave that leads off of the passage that leads to the… that doesn't matter. The point is that I followed him and heard him talking to someone. Someone whose voice I didn't recognise…."

-Flash Back-

"_We don't have to do this" growled Crow. _

"_Yes, yes we do. I've seen first hand what the mayor wants to do to all of you! He wants to crush you like a bug, you and poorer part of Misthallery with it!" _

"_We can't fight the mayor by killing! It makes us worse than him" _

"_You know I'm right. But as an incentive, if you don't comply to what I'm actually trying to help you with then you WILL lose everything that is most important to you. And chances are it will be my doing" _

"_As if you'd know what was most important to me" snarled Crow, but as he said this Wren could hear his feet shuffling nervously against the ground. _

"_Such courage, little boy. You will need it, especially if you are to take down the mayor"_

"_I will not take the mayor down by killing! I am not going to order the Black Ravens to kill!"_

"_Then I shall order the Black Ravens to death" _

"_And how would you do that?" asked Crow, trying to be strong, but Wren could tell his courage was failing. _

"_Oh and not just the Black Ravens of course, I would pull down so much more with them. I know all your little secrets Crow, oh yes, I do know your name as well. I know what you care about, and I would take that from you so easily" the voice was snarling and Wren was backing away slowly. Then she heard a yelp from Crow and she ran for it. _

-End Flash Back-

"Ah, well that is very interesting… There is a third party…"

"What are you thinking Professor?" asked Luke.

"I am trying to work out where they may be. And I do have a hunch…"

"We should go there then" announced Luke, completely ready to leave.

"Not yet, my boy" said the Professor, resting his hand on Luke's shoulder. Luke flinched slightly and Wren laughed openly. "We will be going to Clark's first. I need to speak with your mother"

Luke froze completely then. "I'm not going" he said stubbornly.

"Come now Luke, if Crow is being persuaded by someone else maybe your father is too"

"I don't care. I'm not going"

"Maybe Luke and I could explore the town a bit, Professor? I haven't seen much of it yet" suggested Flora, she wanted to ask Luke quite a few questions.

"If you keep safe I don't see why not" agreed the Professor. "We'll meet back here later, okay?"

Both Flora and Luke nodded. Luke gave Wren a hug before leaving. She was going to spend the day in the hotel with Crow. It wasn't safe for them to go outside just yet.

Luke and Flora left together then, and Flora found that she didn't really want to spoil the mood with important questions. They walked in silence for a little bit before Luke suddenly cheered up.

"…And look Flora, this is where I…" he was narrating the entire town. And Flora didn't mind, he was acting a bit more like the Luke she knew and loved.

"and this Flora, is where I had my first kiss" he said. Flora had tuned out of his running commentary only to suddenly be pulled back into it by hearing the word kiss. Luke laughed then "No, not really. I just wanted to get your attention again. Sorry that I'm going on about it, I just haven't even been up here for ages. I almost forgot the amazing place we were fighting for"

"Why are you fighting for it?" asked Flora, she seemed to have missed the whole point of the investigation.

"That doesn't matter, come on, we can't go this way" said Luke with a grin, pulling Flora down a different street.

"Why not?" asked Flora.

"It's Highyard Hill, that's what we're fighting. Come on I want to show you the fish research facility if it's still there" Luke grabbed Flora's arm then and they ran down hill to the river.

Luke was talking excitedly about the time that he had first met the Professor and they had run down here after pursuit of a cat. Flora nodded and giggled as he spoke.

"Wait, Emmy, who's Emmy?" asked Flora suddenly. Luke stopped and looked at Flora with a mischievous glint in his eye.

"The Professors girlfriend" he said with a smirk. Flora looked completely shocked. But Luke kept dragging her along, to the fish research centre.

They had a great day looking at fish, and they topped it off with a quick take out from Paddy's. Then it was back to the hotel, to find out what the Professor had been doing.

And the Professor hadn't been very busy. He had gone to the Triton estate and found that there was only Brenda home, this did make the whole thing a little easier on him but he felt rather awkward in his friend's home without his friend.

"I do know that there is someone that Clark talks to a lot about business, and I do know that they are certainly not on the council. But that's all I can help you with, I'm sorry"

"Thank you for your information Brenda" said the Professor, and he left. Then he went back to the hotel and waited. He started pacing as it got darker and Wren and Crow were asleep in the beds. The Professor was glad to note that they were separate beds.

Flora and Luke came back before it was completely dark but they were still damp from the fog that had just started rolling in.

They came in with good cheer and much noise. And it woke Wren and Crow up. They saw it was dark outside and Crow smiled, then he went into the other room with a quick "We're leaving soon" to Wren.

"Wren, if you have any other information at all please tell- now may be your last chance" warned the Professor just as Wren was climbing out of the bed.

Wren sighed, and Luke helped her to the sofa. Flora started feeling that knot of jealousy build up her in chest but she pushed it down – she couldn't get angry at poor Wren, it wasn't her fault.

Wren started quickly, knowing she only had a set amount of time before Crow would come back "It was late and dark and cold, a few of us were drinking. Okay, most of us were. Luke, Marilyn, Crow, Louis, Badger and me. We were having a stupid time and slowly we-"

"Luke? Is she talking about you?" interrupted the Professor. Luke ducked his head quickly.

"Professor, now isn't the time" scolded Wren, and the Professor – surprisingly – shut up. "we started dropping off. Luke, Crow and I were the last awake and we started talking about… I don't even remember. Then he just mentioned that the dig site was a crappy place. And I remember asking him how he knew, and he just said "I was taken there". Luke asked him a few more questions about it but then we were talking about something completely different. I asked him in the morning and Crow said that he had never been taken there by anyone – I didn't really think much of it. But how else would he have met that mysterious man? That was when I was permanently by his side, he couldn't have met anyone without me knowing about it…"

"Wren, we have to go now" shouted Crow, who had just walked in. They were all staring at Wren, but Crow didn't seem to notice. He just helped her to her feet and they left.

"Luke, you… Luke that isn't gentlemanly at all!"

"Professor! Must you?"

"Be quiet you two" said Flora, and they both did. "I'm going to sleep. And in the morning we're going to dig site, wherever that is. Okay?"

And both the Professor and Luke nodded.

**Longest chapter I've written so far. Boo yeah! Next few chapters will be the ending, and then I'll probably have an epilogue. Maybe. And just so you know, I still haven't decided who the evil person is. Mmph. I'm so unorganised…**


	17. Chapter 17: Is it? It can't be

"Luke, my boy, wake up" whispered the Professor. Luke rolled over sleepily and groaned.

"Come on, wake up" insisted the Professor. Luke forced his eyes open. It was still dark. He rolled back over again.

"Luke!" cried the Professor in exasperation and with a flourish pulled the covers off of Luke. Luke let out a squeal as he felt a rush of cold.

"Professor!" he complained.

"Shush, get changed, we're leaving"

Then the Professor went and sipped quietly at his tea as Luke pulled on his clothes in a foul mood. He noted that they fitted today, and instinctively thought he had shrunk.

"Crow left some clothes for you, very nice of him wasn't it?" interrupted the Professor as he read Luke's thoughts. Luke made an annoyed noise, yes he was thankful - but he had just been woken up far too early in the morning. The Professor only chuckled, refusing to address Luke's ungentle-manly behaviour.

The Professor stood up and turned to face Luke after giving him what the Professor thought was an appropriate amount of time to get changed. Luke was standing quietly facing the Professor.

"What on earth-"

"I look like Clive don't I?" asked Luke, emotionless. Luke was wearing long brown trousers with long blue socks. His shirt was white and he had a grey striped waistcoat with a blue jacket over top. He couldn't have looked any more like Clive if he had wanted to.

"A little – yes. But that is not a problem – we have to go now before Flora wakes up"

"Yes, because it's not safe for her" muttered Luke - still angry.

Then they left in silence, the Professor closing the door as gently as he could manage behind them. They walked in silence to the dig site. The morning was cold dark, and as the name suggests, very misty. It was eerie and only set the scene for what was about to befall the Professor and Luke.

They made it to the dig site, it looked unused and deserted. But there was no mist, and the Professor and Luke made good speed to the actual place that had been blown to pieces.

"Why do I get the feeling we have to go down one of those holes?" asked Luke when they were standing together looking at the various passages. The Professor tried out a laugh, but it echoed around the pit and only made him sound mad.

"We may as well" shrugged the Professor, and together Luke and him walked down the nearest hole.

It was dark. But that's the most obvious thing, they were surprised to find that it was warm and only got warmer the further towards the centre they moved. It didn't slant downwards but instead stayed flat and straight. It didn't take much effort to walk through it without bashing into anything – and for that – Luke was thankful.

Then all of a sudden they were in a very bright room. The sudden light made them both stop, and they couldn't see a thing. A loud voice sounded "Hershel Layton, esteemed Professor of Archaeology at Gressenheller university, 37 years and unmarried. Living with Katia - his partner of 2 months and his adopted daughter Flora Reinhold. Also, Luke Triton self proclaimed apprentice of Professor Layton, 15 years unmarried. Living with the Black Ravens"

Then the light in the room changed suddenly. And both the Professor and Luke saw two different things. Their childhoods, going up through the years. Running through a park, playing with other children.

Luke saw Finch, Tony and Arianna. The Professor was up to the stage in his life where he had been holding Lando's hand – just before he fell. But they both saw each other a lot. And their memories intertwined, many a time they would both be in the same stage - seeing the same things. And every time this happened a loud clicking noise would start up – only to stop again when their experiences were no longer the same.

They didn't have time to feel overwhelmed, the whole thing took only moments and then it was over. The last memory was of them standing in a room – with white walls.. And they were standing in a dimly lit room with white washed walls. There was no door, and seemingly no exit either.

"Professor?" asked Luke, quietly moving closer to the Professor.

But the Professor had nothing to say just yet.

They both blinked, as you do, and they found that someone was standing in front of them. The person was masked, and cloaked, but no – they weren't Descole. In fact, the Professor didn't recognise them in the slightest.

"Who are you?" asked Luke – starting to feel defiant and braver. He took a step forwards, only to find himself tripping up. The man laughed a little then.

"Luke Triton, I feel as if I've known you forever. And I suppose I have" he said.

"What do you mean?" asked Luke, picking himself up.

"Ha. Do I have to explain? Mr Layton, perhaps you'd like to enlighten your apprentice?"

"You must have your facts wrong, he is no longer my apprentice" said the Professor.

"He still thinks of himself as your apprentice – he has a large heart Layton. And most of it is occupied by you" the man said with a grin. His mask slipped upwards with the corners of his mouth – as though the face on it was actually part of his face, but surely that wasn't possible? It was pure white and around where his eyes would have been were large spirals. There was nothing else spare for small black lines where his mouth and nose would have been.

The Professor didn't know what to say to that, but Luke felt himself blush a very bright red.

"Since that has quietened the Professor, allow me to explain Luke. Quite simply what you saw just before was not for your own amusement - it was for mine. I have all of your thoughts, feelings and memories in here" he tapped his head "Does that make sense?"

"But how…?" queried Luke.

"That's not important. What is important is that you are here when I don't want you to be. So I am terribly sorry, but I just have to do something about it" the man crooned. Then he stared quite determinedly just behind Luke and the Professor. They slowly turned around, afraid of what they were going to find. It was Flora, and Luke and the Professor yelped.

She was almost suspended in mid air, but by what? They couldn't even see her properly, but she was squirming and screaming. Her skinny legs kicking desperately.

"Help me! Professor! Luke! Help me!" she kept screaming, and kicking.

"Let her go!" screamed Luke, but the man only laughed.

"There's worse than that in here, have fun boys! You won't know what hit you by the end of today" he laughed. But the Professor suddenly had a doubt or two.

"Who are you!" he screamed after the man.

"Me? Oh, Hershel – I am your worst nightmare" then the man pulled off the mask and ripped off the cloak. They fell to the ground revealing their true identity. Her hair. Her eyes. The Professor nearly fainted – next to Flora's screams and that. … her… she was there.

"Claire" he mouthed. "Oh Claire, what has happened to you?"

**Oh snap! Weren't expecting that were ya? Nope. No you weren't. I guarantee it. Sorry if that was a bit confusing… It might/might not become clearer in the next chapter. It's getting closer to the end! I think this will probably end up being about 20 chapters. But I do tend to ramble so it might be longer… **

**And also, LUKE DOES NOT LOVE LAYTON AS IN PARTNER LOVER TYPE PERSON. I just wanted to clear that up. **


	18. Chapter 18: Madness

Luke forced himself to look away from Flora, and looked between the Professor and Claire for more than a few moments. But then he heard an ever louder scream and turned back to Flora. This time there was blood dripping from her but it looked like it was running down a rope. Luke but his lip and ran to the rope. He pulled on it once, to test for its strength. His plan was to climb up it and rescue Flora. But he was too late, someone else was already up there with Flora.

Flora wasn't screaming any more, but now Luke was. The person who was up there didn't seem to be doing any good and Luke flushed scarlet all over again. At least Flora wasn't screaming any more – he thought. Before tugging the rope again, and this time it moved. Downwards and very suddenly. Flora fell with it, landing a crumpled mess at Luke's feet. A rope was wound tightly around her waist, the rope that Luke had pulled to end her life. The person had seemingly disappeared.

Luke could only scream, her hollow eyes staring up at him. Her empty eyes – and he started crying uncontrollably. He threw himself over Flora and sobbed. Not minding the warm blood, or the awkward position she was lying in. He had just killed Flora and he wasn't feeling too good about it.

Things weren't going any better for the Professor either, his one true love Claire seemed intent on hurting both the Professor and herself in any way possible. And, always the gentleman, there was nothing the Professor could do about it.

"Do you love me now Hershel?" asked Claire, as she ripped out her hair. The Professor was pushed up against… well… something – it was hard to tell if it was actually a wall because it looked the same as everything else but he was sure that he couldn't move through it – and Claire was standing in front of him, holding a walking stick pointed right next to the front of his neck.

Her hair fell in waves around her, and she screamed in pain. The Professor tried to persuade her to stop, but he couldn't talk without throwing up. The stick was pressed to close to his neck…

"Do you LOVE ME NOW?" she demanded, her eyes ablaze.

"Claire… I have always loved you!" he choked.

"Have you? Then why are thinking of Katia! I know, Hershel, I always know!" she screamed, and pushed the walking stick further.

"She… I… I thought you were dead…"

"And that makes everything okay? I still love you, Hershel, you abandoned me! You forgot me!" she screamed and then knocked off the Professors hat. "You don't deserve this!"

Luke was still lying over Flora, weeping. He felt like he had no tears left, but he forced himself to keep crying. It kept out the constant screaming of Claire in the background. Luke didn't know what was going on – and he didn't want to know either. Until he heard another voice. "Luke, my darling Luke! What are you doing here?"

"Mum?" he asked quietly – but refusing to look up from Flora.

"Yes, darling, I'm right here. Come here, I know how hard this must be for you" her voice was sweet and kind, and Luke was desperate to go to her. But he heard another voice then "Luke, trust me. Don't go with her. Please. I've been through this, and I know the right decision. I know this. Trust me, please"

"Crow? Go away!" he squealed.

"Come here my darling boy – I love you. Who's Crow? You should come with me! Life will be so much better!"

"Crow – should I?" he asked, he was so confused. But he still refused to look up from Flora.

"No, Luke, please. You should come with me. Listen to me, she's not your mum. She's someone else, but she just sounds like your mum. Don't look up or it will be too late. Just tell her to go away"

"I can't! I want… I want to go with her!"

"She may say life is better" Luke shivered, he could feel Crow's voice echoing through his head. "And yes, it probably is. But it won't be life, Luke! It'll be something mindless – you'll become like Brock or worse. You have a life waiting for you. Remember Wren?"

Luke didn't know what to do. Why was it so hard? He shivered again, and heard his mum's voice again. But further away.

"Come with me boy! Come with me!" but she didn't sound like his mum any more. And Luke knew that he couldn't go with her, he'd already long ago made this decision.

"Go away! I'm going to go with Crow. He's right. You're wrong. I've decided" he said, sternly. And stood up bravely. The moment he opened his eyes he was in a cavern. And it was a normal looking cavern.

But back to the Professor.

"You left me HERSHEL! This is your fault!" screamed Claire, as she drew her sharp nails along her bare arms.

"Claire! Stop! Please!" he cried. And he was surprised when she actually did.

"Okay" she laughed. "I'll stop. If you come with me, and live with me forever"

The Professor was about to talk when he heard a quiet voice in the back of his head.

"Hershel, don't do it. Everything about her is wrong – isn't it? This is not your Claire – this is a mimic"

"Claire?" he asked quietly, no quite sure of what else to say.

"Don't you love me Hershel? Don't you want to be with me forever?" she asked, her eyes as bright as the sun and about as burning.

"Of course I do…" he mumbled, but he heard that voice again. That voice that made him doubt everything.

"Hershel! This is your choice, of course it is. But I am telling you not to make the wrong one. Tell her to go away, say you love the real Claire and not her. She is not really here. Claire would never do this to herself – and you know it!"

"Be quiet Clark!" he growled, as he realised who the speaker was. "I'm trying to think!"

"Clark?" asked Claire. "Was he that idiot you used to be friends with? Is he trying to tell you not to come with me?" then she pressed her lips together to form a smile "I love you Hershel. Come with me…"

And she held out her hand. Her nails were red from the blood, and her arm was a mess of scratches. But the Professor was mesmerized – it was Claire.

"Professor?" asked a small voice, and the Professor immediately withdrew his hand and looked around fearfully. Claire tried to get his attention but it was in vain.

"Luke, Luke where are you?" he asked, worried.

"Professor…?" mumbled Luke again. He was starting to fade out. Then he heard more mutters but couldn't make them out.

"Professor! Turn away from her, come with me" said Luke, with a lot more effort. The Professor jumped, and blinked. Claire was fading away. But that was okay, Clark was right, Claire would have never done anything like that.

Then the Professor stumbled slightly – he was in a normal looking cavern with Crow, Clark and Luke. It was softly illuminated and had a round ceiling. Perfect for making things echo… Everything else had disappeared, even Flora.

"Professor!" cried Luke, running up to the Professor and hugging him.

Crow and Clark were standing back a little, watching onwards with suspicion.

"Crow, Clark! You betrayed me!" cried a voice that echoed through all of their minds and gave them instant headaches.

"Game's over" said Crow, standing a little straighter.

"The show's not over until the fat lady sings!" came that voice again. And then they all heard a soft low melodic song. It made the walls vibrate, and the ground too.

"Professor? What's going on?"

The music only got louder, and it became obvious that there were words as well. But it sounded Latin, and only the Professor and Clark knew any Latin, and they chose not to try and translate it.

The ground had started shaking more, and bits of the walls were falling down.

"Let's get out of here" suggested Clark, breaking the singing. And they all ran for it. Down the passage they thought they had all come.

More and more bits of rock seemed to be crashing into their path – but they kept running anyway. It was getting darker, but the passage was straight. Or was it? They couldn't tell. They could just run. Everything was confusing and the wrong way up…

**Thanks for the reviews, guys! Heheh. No of course Claire isn't evil! Geez. You people have no trust. XD But here comes the question… who is the evil person? Well, I'll give you a hint: No one you know. Unless you can read my mind. In which case… 0.o**


	19. Chapter 19: An explosion, and a new dad

They made it out. The sun. Everything snapped back into focus and they all stumbled slightly.

"What the hell was that!" exclaimed Luke, unknowingly stumbling more towards his father.

A voice laughed slightly, but their voice was no longer echoing. It sounds normal now, and much closer. They were dressed the same as the man who had turned into Claire.

"Claire!" cried the Professor.

"I'm not Claire!" he laughed. "My name is Ricordo, and that's all you need know. But you're not so important to me right now" and he flicked his hand in Luke and the Professors direction. They both fell over clutching their heads. They both heard the loudest buzz and it hurt. It rung through their heads and mixed up their minds – they both just wanted it to stop.

"Crow, Clark. You both decided to go against me. I wanted to help you" mocked Ricardo.

"No, you didn't. You wanted to ruin this town!" argued Clark.

"Well you both know the deal, so if you want to take everything back now is the time"

"Never" said Crow.

"Never" agreed Clark.

And they both flew at the man. Not literally flew, they just ran at him really fast. They ignored the throbbing buzz in their heads – and kept going. They were working together. Ricardo didn't even look worried, his mask was only smiling. It was as if he felt he was above them.

"You can kill me, but that will never fully take back what you saw" he laughed – knowing the card he had played was an evil one. Crow slowed a little bit then.

"You've taken my son from me, in both your world, and mine. I don't care" snarled Clark – and then he jumped on the man. Ricardo stumbled under his weight.

"Don't you see?" he stuttered "I could make him love you again!". Ricardo was starting to look more and more worried as his mind tricks weren't working. He had thought himself so invincible, but not quite. Things are just as much mental as they are physical.

"No. That's just not right, is it?" said Clark – with a grin. He wasn't much of a fighter, but he was angry and Ricardo couldn't land a punch if the target wasn't moving and was one foot in front of him.

The Professor and Luke had finally recovered a little, and the Professor was quick to run to his friend's aid. But Ricardo held him back with another blast of whatever it was that made the Professor feel more pain than he had ever experienced in his entire life.

Clark smashed another punch onto Ricardo's mask. And it shattered this time. Revealing his face. Or… some of his face. Most of it had come off with his mask. There were muscles and tendons, and a hole where his nose should be. Clark drew back then, feeling disgusted. And Ricardo stopped moving.

Then they all heard an echoing voice "It's not over yet… It's not over yet… It's not over yet…"

"Oh yes," cried Crow, sounding excited. "It is over!" Then he pushed down on a handle. "Run!" he cried. And they all did.

The entire dig site blew up. In dust and dirt and well… a little bit of water as well. The explosion was massive, and the Professors group were lucky to get out of the area just in time. The mist in the town was not as thick as usual, and when they turned towards the dig site they could all see a dirt mushroom cloud blossoming upwards.

"So our disagreements over?" asked Crow, to the mayor.

"I'd say it's over. Thank you Crow, I know that people can't be brought back but we can still recover. And I… I was wondering if you'd like to help? I'd say you have enough experience leading people?"

Crow snickered a little. "I suppose I can help" he agreed. Clark looked relieved and then turned towards his son. Luke was looking in the other direction awkwardly. "Luke?" he asked with a sigh.

Luke stayed facing the other way for a few moments before giving in and running at his dad with his arms out.

"Luke!" cried Clark, swinging his son up into the air. "My you've grown" he laughed.

The Professor stood watching them with a wistful smile. He knew he wasn't getting his apprentice back, but at least Luke had his father back.

"I have to go now dad, but I'll be home in time for tea!" laughed Luke. His dad ruffled his hair a little and then strode confidently off in the other direction after a quick goodbye. He knew that Luke would come back, and he had a lot of work to catch up on.

It was back to Flora now to see if she was okay. They hadn't wanted to assume she was dead, but they didn't want to assume she was alive either.

"Professor, what happened in there?" asked Luke on the walk back to the hotel.

"I'm afraid that I don't know, my boy" said the Professor in a thoughtful mood.

"I can answer that" started Crow. "Ricardo that guy back there, he can do some sort of mind control. He'll make you scared, or depressed or whatever he wants from you by putting images and thoughts in your mind. Like Flora dying, and Claire going mad. I knew you were going there because I heard you guys talking about it with Wren, and I knew what Ricardo was doing… he did the same thing to me and Clark. Not the nicest experience I know. So I went and got Clark and told him that his son was about to be screwed up in the head, and he agreed to come with me. We went and got you out of the trance before you gave yourselves up"

"Did you give yourself up?" asked Luke, innocently.

"Yeah" said Crow – in a voice that warranted no questions. But the Professor wasn't the type of man to give up that easily.

"And what became of that decision?" he asked Crow.

"I don't really know… but the things I did, and the things I made people do… I think I have my wrong decision to blame for that. I'd guess the same goes for Clark too – but we got over it just to save you two"

"Well, thank you for that Crow" said the Professor with sincerity. He was thinking of Claire again…

"Ricardo is dead now, isn't he?" asked Luke, biting his bottom lip.

"Yeah" confirmed Crow, and then decided Luke was expecting more "He was only human with a mask, he couldn't have survived a bomb that big. And anyway, the buzzing in your heads, the mixed up time and space? It's all over now isn't it? Because it was him, and now he's dead"

Luke and the Professor didn't have anything to say to that.

Crow only shrugged at his previous comment and stared at the sky "How much time has passed this time round?" he wondered out loud.

"What do you mean?"

"Last time I was down there it felt like a few hours, it was actually a week. You should come with me; I don't think Flora will be at the hotel any longer"

"So Flora's okay?" asked Luke nervously – remembering her eyes that seemed so real and lifeless.

Crow only shrugged again, and nearly turned them into a brick wall. Just next to the wall was a pipe, and it was down this that Crow lead them. Luke knew how this worked, and followed willingly behind Crow. The Professor was a little more nervous about the situation and didn't really trust Crow to the same extent as Luke did. He stumbled along the drain pipe and found himself trailing a good few metres behind the others for most of the walk. At least Crow hadn't decided to start running.

The tunnel seemed to get quite small all of a sudden, and when it widened out again they heard screaming.

"Luke!" cried Crow. "It's Wren!"

"What's the matter?" asked Luke desperately as he tried to pick up the pace to keep up with a now running Crow.

"I don't know!" screamed Crow back. The Professor found himself being left behind again, but he kept walking at a steady pace. There was only one route after all.

Crow and Luke both came to the auction room at the same time. It was empty, and they could now hear Wren's groans even louder.

"The back!" cried Crow, not that he really needed to tell Luke as they were both heading there anyway.

They made it in perfect timing to find an exhausted looking Wren holding a small baby. The baby was crying, but only a little bit. They both stopped just outside of the curtain. Marilyn was smiling down at her on one side and there was an older looking woman on the other side.

Wren looked up and her eyes were shining at the two dumb founded boys.

"Come here" said the older woman. "Who's the lucky man? He is one beautiful boy"

Both Crow and Luke stepped forward and went up to the baby. The baby felt the importance of the moment and his screams subsided into muttering and gurgling. This was the moment of truth. Who did it look like most? Either way they knew they were both going to love it, and Wren with it. They had prepared themselves too much to completely forget about it.

Before they looked at the baby they looked at each other.

"If you're the dad, can I be the favourite uncle?" asked Crow.

"Yes, of course! If it'll be the same of me" laughed Luke shakily.

"Sure" Both of the boys were trying to cover their nerves, and Wren lifted the baby up a little so they could see him better. It was too obvious who's the baby was, both of the boys had secretly been hoping that they wouldn't be able to tell so they could both just be the father figure. But there was no chance of that.

Crow made a little hop closer to Wren and the baby. He kissed both of them on the forehead and asked "What's his name?"

"I don't know, but maybe… Would it be bad if I called him Socket?" asked Wren, still tired. The baby was starting to get a bit fidgety and looked like he was about to start crying again.

"Sure, call it Socket" agreed Crow readily. This was when Socket opened his mouth widely and started screaming properly. Everyone in the room laughed slightly – the tension had broken a little.

Luke stepped forward towards Socket. "Oh wow" mouthed Luke.

Wren smiled up at him. And she held out her spare hand towards him – he took it and sat down on the floor next to her.

"How do you feel?" he asked.

"Tired, very tired" she muttered.

"Then sleep" he said with a smile "I'll keep an eye on our baby - Socket"

**I love twisting things at the last minute! I was going to stretch the last bit over two chapters just to put a really annoying cliff hanger in, but I didn't feel like you guys deserved more confusing-ness after the last few chapters. And thank you to all you awesome people who know how to use the review button and do!**


	20. Chapter 20: Epilogue

**This is my last and final chapter otherwise titled – Epilogue**

The Professor and Flora returned to London a month later. They had stayed with Clark and Brenda to witness the rebuilding of the town. Clark had employed Crow to help him with much of his work, and although the Black Ravens still continued to run the Black Market it was mainly Louis and Nabby in charge.

Together Clark and Crow had rebuilt the broken parts of town and persuaded everyone within the town that the danger had passed. The people of Misthallery had a lot of trust in this new young boy who seemed to be more in charge than the mayor and readily accepted when Clark had mostly retired - leaving his job to Crow.

Wren and Luke left the Black Ravens and Luke's father bought them a house more in the centre of town. The Professor and Flora alternated each night between staying with one or the other. Luke and Wren were great parents, though it took the Professor quite some time to not get mad at them both every five seconds.

Arianna and Tony moved out of their large house and came and lived in the village as well. Flora became strong friends with both of them and they kept in contact even after Flora had moved back to London.

Ricardo was never heard of again and they all assumed he had died in the large explosion.

When the Professor and Flora arrived back at their home they found a letter waiting for them inside.

"I can only wait for you so long, Hershel. Don't try and find me – you could have written at least" read out Flora.

The Professor sunk down onto the sofa.

"Has Katia left you?" inquired Flora.

"I suppose she has" he said, tipping his hat over his eyes. Then he stood up and went to his bedroom. When he came back down Flora had (successfully) made scrambled eggs. He was no longer wearing his hat, nor was he wearing his coat or jumper. He was wearing a simple looking suite.

Flora smiled at him when he came in, and tried to hide her shock that he looked so different. They ate companionably and in silence. When they finished Flora asked "Can I go out?".

The Professor nodded silently.

Flora left their house and as she did she went past their rubbish bin. She felt a twinge of curiosity as the lid was slightly lifted up. She took the lid off and held it above the bin. She peered into the bin and saw a dark circle – it was the Professors squashed top hat.

Flora hurriedly slammed the lid down, so that it was not sticking up any more. And she walked away from the bin with her head held high. It was a new beginning for both of them.

**The End**


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